Sausage lovers enjoyed a banger of an evening at the hotly anticipated Great Sausage Roll Off.

The Red Lion, Barnes, pulled out all the stops for the competition, now in its third year, on Wednesday, January 28, with 19 top chefs taking part and braving the judging panel.

John Grabecki, head chef at NBY Mellon, made mincemeat of other competitors and was crowned winner with his gourmet creation.

Mr Grabecki wowed the judging panel with his rabbit sausage roll with black pudding, rabbit leg, loin, maple syrup and Bayonne ham served with rabbit liver parfait, offal crumb and powdered potato.

He said "I was up against some tough competition and it was a privilege to cook alongside the other worthy contestants.

"It is great to see how popular these competitions are becoming and it is fantastic to see such a wide range of creations from the chefs."

Jill Winston, from the Park Tavern in Chichester, came away in second place after cooking up a storm with her class pub sausage roll, while third place sausage roller James Strawbridge, from the Posh Pasty Company, tickled the judges taste buds with venison in a hand crimped shortcrust rosemary pastry with Cornish Orchards Mulled Cider.

Special commendations were also handed to Kevin Jones of the Swan Inn, Staines, and 16-year-old Eden Allsworth from East Kent College, who impressed with their white lop-eared pork sausage rolls and boyden gate bake respectively.

After the judgement was issued, the sausage rolls were auctioned off in aid of Shooting Star Chase.