Chef Deborah Hudson at the George, Cullingworth Deborah Hudson cannot stop smiling. The bubbly mother-of-three has been on cloud nine since taking over the village pub, The George, in Cullingworth, with her childhood friend Carole Davidson.

"It's great, we get on really well and we have fun - it is a pleasure to go to work, " says Deborah. Not that she is ever away from work - living on the premises.

The pair grew up in the village and the pub was their watering hole from their tens upwards. "We have always come here to drink - we virtually grew up drinking here, so it is lovely being in change."

Deborah and Carole have worked hard to transform the spacious yet cosy pub into a welcoming place to drink and eat. They have created a stylish dining room, from which diners can gaze out of the huge windows, to admire the view across the cobbled square towards the church.

While Carole works behind the bar, Deborah mans the kitchen, from where she rustles up meals including roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and vegetables, homemade soup, lasagne, Cajun chicken salad and scampi.

Desserts include apple crumble and custard and sherry trifle.

"It is mostly home cooking and I love preparing it, " she says. "I have had lots of comments from people saying how much they have enjoyed it, which is very satisfying."

A hairdresser by trade, Deborah spent 25 years washing, trimming and blow-drying people's locks. She worked in various salons across the district before setting up her own hairdressing business in Cullingworth.

"I really enjoyed it. I always wanted to be a hairdresser and I didn't really think about anything else, " says the mother of Gemma, 27, Lucy, 25 and 17-year-old Kate.

She eventually sold the business but returned to work at the salon part-time. Then, Deborah's daughter Gemma started a part-time job waitressing at the Five Flags Hotel in Cullingworth.

"Gemma mentioned to me that they were desperate for a pastry chef, and as I fancied a change I volunteered to give it a go, " she recalls.

"I had only ever cooked for the family, but I went along and they left me in the kitchen. I made meat pies, apple pies, all sorts of pies. I loved it and stayed on."

She would, she says, still be there, had the restaurant not closed in summer 2004. After moving to the Wuthering Heights pub in Stanbury, she found out that the lease on The George was available and joined forces with Carole.

The pub did not serve food, but Deborah wasted no time in introducing it. Now she likes nothing more than seeing people tucking in.

With a busy pub to run, the women don't get much time to relax, so Deborah is looking forward to managing to get away. "I'm going to Mexico on holiday with some friends - I can't wait."