Recipes by the former Beatles star and celebrity chefs including Mr Ramsay, Delia Smith and Marco Pierre White are included in The Village Cookbook, a collaboration between residents of Weston and Weedon Lois and some of the biggest names in cooking.

Proceeds from sales will go towards St Loys Primary School, Weedon Lois.

The 100-page full-colour book, which contains 48 seasonal recipes by both locals and celebrity chefs, was the brainchild of Weston resident and Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine editor William Sitwell, who "hijacked" the idea after hearing a group of village mums were thinking of compiling a recipe book.

He said: "I thought, 'Let's do an amazing job'. The celebrity chefs were all really happy to help out and I know those people because of the business I'm in so it wasn't too difficult to persuade them.

"Marco Pierre White was really happy to give a recipe because, as he says, someone like him is able to help out because it's real food with recipes by real people.

"We had a launch party about a week ago and people were amazed. It's a stunning little thing and it's a great record of the village and it's going down amazingly well."

As well as recipes from celebrity chefs, the book contains recipes by locals, such as Rector Will Adams's butternut squash soup and St Loys's headteacher Rob Hazelgrove's recipe for pasta with tuna and sweetcorn.

Marco Pierre White contributed a recipe for breast of duck with olives and red wine sauce. He said: "I like village life and the recipes stored by villagers are wonderful secrets.

"But too often they die when people do. So this is an important book as it's publishing real recipes from real people. I'm delighted to be a part of it."

The Village Cookbook is on sale for £12.50 from village shops in the area. Chron readers can get copies via mail order for £10 plus £1.20 postage and packing and 50p for each additional copy, from St Loys CE Primary School, Weedon Lois, Towcester, NN12 8PP.

UK taxpayers can indicate they would like to Gift Aid their donations by putting their postcodes on the back of their cheques.