An Ipswich Domino's worker is taking the definition of fast food to a whole new level after being crowned the fastest pizza maker in the UK.

Joana Mendes, who works for the Bramford Road Domino's store in Ipswich won the title at her first attempt to become its first-ever female winner.

Her winning time? A speedy one minute and 19 seconds, from dough to pizza.

The 26-year-old, originally from Portugal, came to Ipswich seven years ago, and has been working at Domino's ever since then, starting when she was 19, and has now become assistant manager at the store.

Before Joana started working at Domino's, she said she didn't know anything about pizza, but she saw a video of 2012 winner Pali Grewal, which inspired her.

She was asked to go to the pizza-making competition after Dorian Xhemali from franchise Moonpal Grewal, noticed her quality and suggested she competed.

Each of the 80 competitors from across the UK and Ireland had to make three large pizzas, topped with 30 slices of pepperoni, 59g of mushrooms, 231g of diced mozzarella and the Domino’s signature tomato pizza sauce.

She said: "It involved a lot of practice, seven years it took me to get to this point.

"There was a lot of nerves involved and it was very stressful. It is all about following the right steps and doing everything calmly and controlling the nerves.

"I was really happy when I saw my name on the top of the list and being the first woman to win this competition is even more rewarding and I feel really proud of my achievement."

One out-of-place ingredient or incorrectly sized dough could cost 15 seconds on to a contestant's attempt.

She continued: "I am very grateful to everybody that has been with me and that gave me the chance to be part of it and believed in me."

Joana has now qualified for the European pizza making heats to compete against the best in the continent and become European Champion.