A gourmet chef has been recruited to transform Bradford's school dinners and become the district's answer to Jamie Oliver.

Dominic Hirst has swapped restaurant cuisine for the school canteen after taking on the job of improving the food on offer in Bradford schools.

Before taking on the task he spent five years serving up high-quality fare to Harvey Nichols customers in Leeds.

But now he will be working alongside school cooks and parents to ensure pupils are eating high-quality, healthy food both in and out of school.

Mr Hirst's appointment follows the success of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's campaign to improve food being served up to children at lunchtimes.

His television series Jamie's School Dinners' put the issue at the top of the political agenda.

And at last week's Labour Party conference in Brighton Education Secretary Ruth Kelly announced that the Government would ban junk food from school canteens and vending machines.

However, Oliver's campaign has also been blamed for a fall in the number of parents who want their children to have school dinners.

School catering bosses in Bradford say there was a slight fall in the number of pupils dining in the canteen at the end of the last academic year compared with the previous 12 months.

Now Mr Hirst is hoping to reverse the trend after being appointed as the development chef for Education Contract Services (ECS), Bradford Council's in-house schools caterer.

He said: "It is starting to pick up again so that's positive for us. But it means we have to work harder to get children back on to school meals."

The 31-year-old dad of two was trained in a Michelin star restaurant in Altrincham before working as a chef in Manchester, Huddersfield and most recently Harvey Nichols in Leeds.

His new role will be to visit canteens across the district to train staff how to cook a new menu of fresh food which has been launched in Bradford schools this term.

Mrs Kelly announced last week that schools would no longer be able to serve processed foods such as frozen burgers and sausages in the canteen. And she is banning schools from serving fizzy drinks, chocolate and crisps from vending machines.

However, ECS says it is already ahead of the game after announcing two months ago that it was removing processed food from its menu and ensuring all meat, poultry and vegetables used is fresh and locally produced - within 30 miles of the district.

Now Mr Hirst will work to deliver the changes and develop new dishes for the menu.

Parents and pupils at Buttershaw High School had a taste of what is to come last week when the chef performed a demonstration showing them how to produce healthy dishes such as bubble and squeak, chargrilled vegetables with a parmesan polenta and the smoked fish dish kedgeree.

He said: "You can make anything taste nice as long as it is cooked correctly.

"I can't put into words how totally different this new job is.

"It is more satisfying working with children. But my long term goal is to make sure there is a variety of dishes all the time, give them good food and make sure they enjoy it."

Roger Sheard, ECS' business development manager, said: "The reason why we appointed Dominic is we are hoping he will bring his expertise and passion for food and his creativity, flair and enthusiasm not only in product and menu development but through live theatre demonstrations for students and parents.

"Children's eating habits are established in those early years so if you can provide them with the right nutrition, hopefully it will be followed through life."