Award-winning chef Jamal Ahmed is heading to Bangladesh to represent Britain at a prestigious foodie festival.

Jay, as he is known, has run Shozna restaurant in Rochester for 16 years and has notched up a string of accolades for his culinary skills.

He is one of just five chefs selected to showcase his dishes at the British Curry Festival in Dhaka.

The group will produce a range of new menus giving a spicy twist on traditional British meals as well as classic high street favourites like chicken tikka masala and vindaloo.

Mr Ahmed said: "It’s a great honour to be selected again after a long time. I am really looking forward to cooking for a new audience at Dhaka."

The event is organised by the UK’s Curry House trade magazine, Curry Life, and Jay has been chosen before, but this will be his post-pandemic trip to the country's capital.

Festival organiser, Syed Belal Ahmed, is hoping the city will prove to be inspiration for the team of experts who will be serving up at the Intercontinental Dhaka which has several restaurants.

Mr Ahmed, who is also the editor of Curry Life Magazine, said: "British food is enjoying a renaissance period after many years and curry has played a major role in helping put us back in the world kitchen.

"This festival will create the opportunity not only to showcase the best of British but also help our chefs to bring fresh ideas to their own menus by working alongside the culinary masters of Bangladesh.

"What greater inspiration could they have than a city which has been famed for its gastronomy for centuries?"

Jay, who heads the team at the Maidstone Road restaurant, said: "I have cooked in various competitions but cooking British curry in Dhaka, Bangladesh will be a real challenge."

Last October, Shozna was named the nation's top Indian restaurant in the Curry Life Awards.

Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder and chairman of Cobra beer, who is also going to Dhaka to open the event, praised the efforts of British Bangladeshi curry chefs for transforming the British curry business into a multi-billion-pound industry.