Church gets new life as eaterie

The restaurant is a training centre for young chefs

Chef Prue Leith has helped turn a former Devon church into a restaurant to train young chefs.

St Barnabas Church has been taken over by Leith's charity Training for Life.

The church has been renamed The Dartmouth Apprentice, which will reinvest profits into training.

It is based on a similar project by Training for Life in Hoxton, London which also training for unemployed people.

'New experience'

Ms Leith said: "My ethos is about training by doing, not being taught in a classroom and giving that respect to young people that changes their lives."

Since 1995 Training for Life has returned more than 12,000 people to full-time education and employment.

Chef Clemente Maiorana said: "I am very happy for this project.

"It is a new experience for me - I teach Italian cooking and I teach for the future."

The project has drawn comparisons with Jamie Oliver's 15 restaurants, but the difference is that the Dartmouth Apprentice includes accommodation.

The hostel has accommodation for 80 homeless people who will have to prove to the housing group and restaurant partners Spectrum that they want to help themselves.

Jason Burns of Spectrum said: "People are going to have concerns about homeless people coming here, but we will be making sure that they are clear about making a difference to themselves."