Members of a Cumbrian congregation are cheering on their deputy churchwarden as she competes in the 2023 Great British Bake Off.

Abbi Lawson, 27, part of St. James' Tebay, took the spotlight in this week's episode of the Channel 4 show, bravely taking on Cake Week's challenge of a perfectly stacked, vertically layered cake.

She creatively utilised foraged wild blackcurrants, poppy seeds and gorse petals to craft an earthy treat.

Abbi revealed her motivation for taking part, citing recent successes at her village show as a driving factor.

Reverend Canon Brendan Giblin, vicar of St James', said: "We were all thrilled to hear that Abbi had been successful in applying for the programme. She’s a star baker in her own right and has done so well to make it through to the show as thousands of people apply each year.

“We’ll be praying for Abbi over the coming weeks as she faces all the various challenges in the Bake Off tent!”

Other tasks in the competition saw Abbi baking a sumptuous chocolate fudge cake, as well as a Cumbria-inspired Herbert the Herdwick Sheep cake.

Brendan said: “It was lovely to see Abbi celebrate her Cumbrian heritage with the Herdwick sheep cake design. In fact it looked too good to eat!”