A new television series set to air this year will crown the best bakery from across the country.

Britain’s Best Bakery, due to air on ITV1, is a new 20-episode series of hour-long shows, which will see 36 UK bakeries battle it out in a range of bakery-related challenges.

Businesses will go head-to-head in a ‘First Impressions’ round, where judges Mich Turner, owner of the Little Venice Cake Company, and TV chef Peter Sidwell, visit the bakeries and examine the skills of front-of-house staff, as well as the quality of the premises and product range.

A second round called ‘The Speciality Bake’ will see the bakeries produce a speciality product, while the final ‘Baker’s Dozen’ stage will test how well they can make 13 identical bakes of the judges’ choice in a competition lasting three hours.

Three bakeries will be shortlisted during the four-week long series to compete in a grand finale.

The first episode will focus on bakery businesses from Dorset and Somerset, featuring Mark Bennet and his wife Emma from their patisserie in Poole, alongside Steve Oxford of Oxfords Bakery in Sherborne.

Duncan Glendinning, owner of the Thoughtful Bread Co in Bath, which has recently reached its £55,000 investment target to open its first bakery and patisserie shop, will also appear in the first show of the series.

Britain’s Best Bakery has been created by TV production company Shine.