Chef Jamie Oliver made a first visit to his Ministry of Food centre in Bradford yesterday and declared the venture a roaring success.

Mr Oliver is behind the Bradford Council-run project which opened its doors in January and has since taught hundreds of people to cook from scratch.

Participants can sign up to a ten-week course of cooking classes at the John Street centre for £4 a session.

They progress, using Mr Oliver’s recipes, from simple tasks to cooking up healthy main meals and learn how to cook on a budget. The Ministry of Food ethos means that those who take part are expected to pass on their new-found skills.

Since his second centre opened in Bradford, the courses have been regularly booked up. There is now a waiting list long enough to keep centre manager Soraya Overend busy until November.

Mr Oliver told the Telegraph & Argus: “Bradford has been pioneering enough to want to open a Ministry of Food here and follow on from the good work we are doing in Rotherham.

“What’s interesting about the centre here is that I’m told the demand is there for double the number of classes to be run. They could knock through the walls on either side and still be full.

“We hope to be able to take on two more members of staff which will mean more courses can be run and more people reached.

“Yorkshire is leading the way in pioneering these centres, but the health problems are generic to the whole of England.

“It’s about channelling funding from obesity strategies in an entrepreneurial way – with good local folk teaching others face-to-face rather than spending the money on another advertising campaign.”

He added that a group would be set up on social-networking site Facebook allowing all the Ministry of Food centres to post photographs and feedback and for Mr Oliver to provide suggestions.

A third centre has now opened in Leeds.

Mrs Overend added: “It’s been so inspiring to meet Jamie.

“He gives you the feeling that it’s all so easy and can make such a difference to people.

“We have such a wide range of people on our courses, with some never having picked up a knife before. We’d love to be able to run more, but at the moment the waiting list means we are full until November.”

Councillor David Green, the Council’s executive member for regeneration and economy, said: “It’s been a great success in Bradford and what we now need to do is to look to spread the news and make sure that the benefits are made more widely available not just to the public, but to businesses and other public sector organisations.”

He said the Council will look at expanding the workforce if the demand was demonstrated. To inquire about courses, call (01274) 435279.