Children judge smelliest cheese

A group of school children from Somerset are auditioning to be on the judging panel to choose Britain's smelliest cheese.

Organisers say the youngsters, aged between eight and 11, are chosen for the task because they have a keener sense of smell than older people.

The five with the most finely-tuned noses will be picked from pupils at Wells Cathedral School.

They will be asked to rank cheeses in order of their pungency.

'Smell ranking'

About 1,000 cheeses from 150 cheese makers are due to be exhibited at Britain's Smelliest Cheese Championships at the Royal Bath and West Show on 27 May.

Unlike the World Championships of smelly cheese - which employed technical measurements - the children will be used to rank cheeses in order of their pungency.

France currently holds the world title with the whiffy Le Vieux Boulogne.

A variety of enzymes and bacteria mature in a cheese's rind over several weeks to produce the smell.

Once this has been cut off the cheese does not smell as much.