A Pembrokeshire man, who is head chef at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, is preparing to make his international debut for Culinary Team Wales at the Villeroy and Boch Culinary World Cup later this month.

Simon Crockford, 32, a native of Tenby, can't wait to compete for his country against the best chefs in the world at the prestigious competition in Luxembourg from November 22-26.

Thirty national teams will be competing and Simon is aiming for gold medals.

"You work all your career to get to this stage and it's like being chosen for Wales in football or rugby to compete at the World Cup finals," he said. "It's a great honour to be picked for our country and I'm a proud Welshman. I can't think of anything better.

"The more trials we have done, the more it has sunk in how important this competition is. I love working with the team because it's all about cooking and the food.

"When you take a step back and consider what has just happened, it feels unreal. Here am I, a guy from the small fishing town of Tenby and all of a sudden I'm going to Luxembourg to compete with 12 of the best chefs in Wales against the world's top teams.

"I just need to keep my feet on the ground and stay focused. I want to make sure that I perform well and keep my place in the team."

As for the future, Simon sees opportunities to grow with the Celtic Manor Resort, where he's in charge of three restaurants.

The senior Welsh team held a practice recently when they ran through their World Cup menu at a dinner hosted by the Celtic Manor Resort.

Both the senior and junior Culinary Team Wales will be in action in the hot kitchen on the first day of the World Cup and will prepare a cold buffet display on the third day.

Two of Simon's workmates from the chefs' brigade at the Celtic Manor Resort, Jonathan Pring and Ffion Lewis, have also been selected in the junior Culinary Team Wales to compete at the Culinary World Cup.

The senior team is captained by Sally Owens, a lecturer at Coleg Llandrillo and includes Danny Burke, owner of Shared Olive, Hawarden, Ryan Jones, creative development chef at Fei Foods Limited, Llansamlet, and Leigh Marshall, head chef at the Castle Hotel, Conwy.