Hartlepool's Vaughan doesn't quite reach Junior Bake Off final - but he's won the hearts of the nation

The 13-year-old, who lives with his parents in Hartlepool, made it to the semi-finals alongside five other bakers out of the original 20 to start the competition.

But patisserie day was a tough one for Vaughan who didn’t manage to win over the judging panel made up of Great British Bake Off regular Prue Leith and Liam Charles, who featured in series eight of the hit baking show.

During the semi-final the six bakers left in the tent were tasked with a difficult Mille-feuille technical before a meringue structure showstopper.

Unfortunately Vaughan’s meringue boat, which was inspired by his hometown of Hartlepool, wasn’t enough to earn him a place in the final but the youngster remained positive.

Of his boat, Vaughan said: “The judges liked by flavours and they liked the different textures however they didn’t like the look – but they don’t like the look of any of the things I do.”

But it was Vaughan and fellow baker Tom who didn’t make it through to the final.

“My time in the tent has been amazing. I’ve had so so much fun,” said the 13-year-old.

And his Junior Bake Off journey has seen him win praise for his positive nature – with fans of the show hailing the youngster a credit to his parents.

One twitter user wrote: “We all need to be a little more like Vaughan. What an inspirational, positive, smiley and talented young man. Gutted he’s gone.”

While another tweeted: “I've been watching the Junior Bake Off with my mum these past few weeks and it's been so wholesome and fun! All the kids have been polite and wonderful, but I wanna say I absolutely adore Vaughan, he's such a good kid!!”

And a lot of tweet’s praised the youngster, one wrote: “Vaughan's parents should be so proud of him.. What a gentleman. Nice to everyone... A great kid..”