A CHEF from Purley who was taught by Jamie Oliver and has cooked for royalty has started a campaign to find a financial backer for a restaurant.

Kevin Boyle, 25, said he has the vision, drive and training to make the venture a success, but needs a business partner.

Mr Boyle said he wants to give something back to Purley, where he grew up, by opening a place where every member of the community feels welcome.

"My aim is to be serving the food I have cooked for the elite but making it accessible for everyone," he said.

"It would be excellent, creative food but not the kind of meals or atmosphere that intimidate or alienate people.

"I would make everything fresh on the premises, but I would use and source ingredients in an intelligent way to make it affordable."

Mr Boyle, who studied at what was then Coulsdon High and is now Oasis Academy Coulsdon, has wanted to be a chef since he was four.

In the spring of 2002 he made it to the final 30 of 1,500 people who applied to be part of Jamie Oliver's first-ever Fifteen venture, a social enterprise aimed at teaching young people to run a restaurant in London.

Mr Boyle so impressed the TV chef with his dedication and skill that he was selected to work alongside him in the final apprenticeship televised series.

He also spent time at elite restaurants in the city, including Le Caprice, St John and Smiths of Smithfield.

Mr Boyle has also prepared food for Prince Charles at Clarence House, and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"I have been very lucky in my career so far but I am really looking forward to the next step," he said.

"I would want the restaurant to be bright and vibrant and friendly, and the family would be right at the heart of that."

Update: A body was found in Coulsdon which was later identified as Kevin's, who had been missing from Purley since October. An inquest has been opened and adjourned, but police are not treating it as suspicious. Kevin's sister Naomi Anderson and friend Peter Fosdike paid tribute to Kevin, describing him as a kind, caring, compassionate and intelligent man, while his former mentor Jamie Oliver described him as representing all that was good in Fifteen and in people.