HER culinary creation helped sustain Britain’s first astronaut on the International Space Station during his six months in orbit while she was preparing for her GCSEs.

Now 16-year-old Chloe Cockshull has been given some feedback in person during a special party held at 10 Downing Street where she met Tim Peake for the second time – along with the new Prime Minister.

Former Nova Hreod pupil Chloe was one of the winners of the Great British Space Dinner competition, a challenge set by Tim and celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal to come up with a menu to tickle the astronaut’s taste buds. Chloe created the Nova Tiffin Space Capsule, a curry menu for Tim to eat in orbit.

“I did some research and found out that he liked spicy food,” explained Chloe, who will begin studying the three sciences, maths and psychology at Cirencester College in September with the hope of going on to study veterinary science. “When I spoke to him on Monday he told me which his favourite meals were and the curry was one of them. It was such an unreal experience. My friends didn’t believe me at first until I showed them the photograph of me with Tim and the Prime Minister.”

It’s not the first time that Chloe has met Tim, having appeared on the One Show in 2014 when she was announced as one of the winners of the competition, after coming top in the class against thousands of entries from across the country.

Her mum Janet said the reception at Downing Street had come as quite the surprise at the end of last week, but that she was incredibly proud of her daughter. “It was absolutely amazing, and we were made to feel really welcome,” she said. “At first we didn’t know what it was all about, the school got in touch to say the space agency wanted to speak to us and the next thing we knew we had an email from 10 Downing Street inviting us to attend.”

As well as speaking with Tim Peake the Prime Minister also spoke to each of the students about the competition and the mission to the International Space Station.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: “I am very pleased to welcome Tim Peake home from his mission in space.

“His mission - named ‘Principia’ after the revolutionary work by Sir Isaac Newton - is part of a long legacy of British discovery and exploration that we can all be proud of.

“Tim worked for up to 14 hours a day, participated in more than 250 experiments and even ran a marathon during his mission in space – all in dedication to British science.

“He has shown us that through hard work and determination anyone can go as far as their talents will take them. I hope his achievements will inspire students across the country to become Britain’s astronauts, scientists, and engineers of the future.”