A regional journalist is hoping to put to bed a debate “as old as time itself” by finding the best pasty in Cornwall.

Cornwall Live reporter Chris Matthews has launched the contest to discover the champion version of his patch’s delicacy.

Native Cornishman Chris, pictured, will himself serve on the judging panel after calling for readers to put forward their suggestions.

He had received more than 600 nominations within 24 hours of launching the competition on Cornwall Live.

Speaking to HTFP, Chris said: “I am Cornish born and bred and like all Cornishmen, I love nothing more than a proper pasty.

“The debate of who makes the best pasty is almost as old as time itself and one of the most fierce debates you can ever imagine.

“Over the last couple of years a Facebook page called Rate My Pasty has grown and grown and features people sharing pictures and reviews of pasties from around the county.

“On near enough every post there are debates comparing each pasty rated to other bakeries and rows regularly break out over the pick of the bunch.

“So I decided that I wanted to decide once and for all what the best pasty is.

“Thankfully, given the interest and passion of Cornish people towards pasties I’ve been allowed to do it in work time given the as the topic generates huge engagement among our readers. I haven’t approached the subject of expenses yet though.”

Chris has selected the three most popular nominations from each of Cornwall’s six Parliamentary constituencies to make a final shortlist.

He added: “Initially it was going to be just me going around and rating the best of the best Cornwall has to offer, but someone rightly pointed out that each person has different tastes so I’m going to enlist some help to form a judging panel.

“Given the considerable driving distance between each constituency (Cornwall is vast), I think I’m going to have to do six rating days, one in each constituency before revealing the final results together.”