THERE’S a void in my life left behind by the Great British Bake-Off.

Tuesday nights are empty, devoid of all meaning, only serving to remind me of what I’ve lost.

Nothing holds joy for me any more and I can barely look at my Mary Berry cookbook without shedding tears of pain, sadness and other misery-filled nouns.

But before you call me melodramatic (or ‘a bit soft’, as my dad would say) I can tell you nine million others are also feeling my pain. You may even be one of us.

According to The Independent, the UK tuned in almost as one to see Frances ‘style over substance’ Quinn take the crown on the TV baking competition last week.

Twitter was later awash with people decrying the loss of their weekly slice of sunshine, asking what on Earth they will do with their evenings now there is nobody making Dalek cakes purely for their entertainment.

So I have enlisted my colleagues to help me through these darkest of times – and the ‘Gazette Friday Treats Baking Club’ has held its inaugural meeting.

The premise is quite simple: we have a rota and every Friday someone has to bring in cakes. The only rule is that they must be home-made.

Last week I made chocolate brownies and said a joyous ‘stuff the diet’ as we demolished them in about seven seconds flat. At 9am.

I think Gazette Towers will henceforth be known as ‘that place where the staff get fatter and fatter’.

But everybody needs a wholesome activity like home baking in their lives.

I was pleased to hear that the Bake-Off final beat last week’s X Factor in the ratings war, proving gentle skills like cookery are now more appealing than the countdown to Simon Cowell’s annual assault on the charts.

And who knows – maybe one of us is destined to be the next Paul Hollywood and will actually BE on next year’s Bake-Off. I can only dream!