Shimla Spice, in Keighley, has opened up its kitchen to primary school children to inspire them to join the restaurant trade.

Pupils from St Andrew’s CE Primary School, in Keighley, toured the dining area before taking a lesson in spices and the machinery used to cook the culinary delights served at the South Street restaurant.

A vegetable pakora was tasted by the pupils, aged from seven to ten years old, to finish off an educational afternoon.

Faisal Hussain, 19, who manages Shimla Spice, said: “I first got involved with the restaurant when I was 13 years old when I was still at school and I am now managing it.

“With immigration laws changing we cannot get chefs from abroad over to cook as easily so we want to inspire more local people into the trade.

“There are many jobs in a restaurant — waiting, cheffing, managing the food and the floor, and people can make a lot of money from it, which some don’t realise.

“I am keen to get children interested young so they grow up with it and I would also like to set up a kind of food academy, I think there is a need for one.”

Inclusion manager at St Andrew’s, Oliver Barnes, said more businesses should work with primary schools.

He said: “Businesses tend to work with secondary schools but not primary, but children get so much out of visits like this. There is no room in the curriculum for them to cook, so this is a good experience for them to learn what it is about. A lot of boys tend to think that cooking is only for girls and Shimla Spice have male chefs.”