TOP chef Simon Gueller offered an army veteran a day of training in Ilkley’s Michelin-starred Box Tree restaurant yesterday.

The training comes ahead of a Masterchef-style cooking competition run in conjunction with charity Help for Heroes.

Six wounded servicemen, women and veterans were offered the chance to be mentored by Yorkshire’s top restaurants — and hopefully carve themselves a new career in the professional kitchen.

All six candidates will go on to compete in the final cook-off at stately home Swinton Park, near Ripon, today.

The competition is being organised by Swinton Park, Help for Heroes’ Phoenix House recovery centre, Catterick, and Yorkshire Game Ltd.

Gareth Kendall spent the day at the Box Tree, on Church Street, learning the ropes with Simon Gueller, before trying his own hand at preparing a (hopefully) award-winning meal.

Gareth is a trained joiner, having served an apprenticeship in his native Halifax before joining the army at 19.

He served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, but broke three vertebrae in 2007 and was deemed unfit to undertake tours of duty.

He remained with his regiment, however, until he was seriously injured in a car crash while based in Scotland.

As well as sustaining serious internal injuries, the 28-year-old lost part of his left leg and and now has a through-knee prosthetic limb.

He has considered a new career as a NVQ assessor in joinery, and looked into becoming a fitness instructor for disabled people.

But Gareth ­— who with partner Jenna has two children, as well as a stepson and another child from a previous relationship — also has a dream of one day opening a high-end cafe serving Michelin star-style food at reasonable prices.