THE EXIT of a talented Kendal chef from a flagship BBC2 cooking competition has prompted a social media backlash.

Week after week, Matt Campbell had been earning high praise from the exacting judges of MasterChef: The Professionals.

His signature dish was judged to be the 'best' that chef Marcus Wareing had ever tasted as well as praising his presentation and modern cooking techniques.

However, in last week's semi-final, Matt failed to make it through to the next round of the competition and many viewers were unimpressed with the decision.

Commenting on the MasterChef UK Facebook page, Steve Erwood declared the decision to be a 'farce'.

"Matt won the competition already, in my opinion," he wrote. "Consistent, adventurous, knowledgeable, exciting. Not sure how or why he was erased this evening."

And dozens of others echoed his views, with Karen Stallabrass writing she was 'gutted' that Matt left and Maggie Farmer writing that he was 'robbed'.

However, some agreed with the judges' decision, with Delia Leyland-Cooper writing that Matt's dishes were not '100 per cent perfect'.

Matt made a name for himself over the course of the series by creating gastronomic but nutritionally minded dishes, utilising unusual ingredients and innovative flavour combinations.

In Wednesday (December 13) night's episode, three of the six semi-finalists were sent to work alongside head chef James Close at the Raby Hunt near Darlington.

Matt was in charge of producing a warm chocolate mousse and a summer berry tart for the restaurant's 14 course tasting menu.

He and the other two contestants then had to reproduce a seasonal salad for James to taste. Although his dish was not perfect, Matt was praised for being 'methodical' in his approach.

The chef's then returned to the MasterChef kitchen to cook two dishes for Marcus Wareing, Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti to taste.

Gregg Wallace said that Matt's chocolate dessert served with parsnip was 'too zingy' but Marcus Wareing declared it it a 'treat'.

And although fans of the private chef were left disappointed, he took to Instagram to write that it had been one of the 'most incredible experiences' of his life.

"Thank you to the incredibly talented chefs I met on this crazy journey, strangers I now consider lifelong friends, so looking forward to cooking again with you in the new year," he wrote.

"Thank you to EVERYBODY who has supported me over the past 3 weeks, I cannot believe the (literally thousands) of messages/followers/shares I have received and how the UK has resonated with my style of food."

And next year looks set to be busy for the chef, with his website promoting a a cookbook titled 'Nutritional Gastronomy' for summer 2018.