A foodie has been shortlisted for a dream job as a "taste master" in Western Australia after seeing-off tens of thousands of other applicants.

Asha Patel, 30, from Epsom, is among 25 people in the running for the job after a worldwide contest by Tourism Australia.

Nearly 350,000 people, from 196 countries, applied for six dream jobs including wildlife caretaker, park ranger and lifestyle photographer.

If she gets selected she will be given a £33,000 salary plus £33,000 expenses to spend six months down under tracking down the finest produce and best restaurants in the state and promoting it.

Ms Patel, who lives near Epsom Common, said she found out on Tuesday that she had made it through to the next round of the competition.

She said: "It’s really quite magical. I can only imagine this is what it feels like to win the lottery. It’s exciting and nerve-racking."

Ms Patel works in financial services in Canary Wharf but has a huge passion for buying food, cooking and eating.

She said: "I’m a real foodie at heart. I really, really enjoy living out in Epsom and going to the farmers’ market. I’m really at home in places like that."

Ms Patel has travelled all over the world in search of delicious food and has turned a travel blog into a nonfiction account, which has been published by Traveller's Tales.

For the last round Ms Patel submitted a 30-second video and now she must garner as much publicity as possible in a bid to become one of the finalists.

She said: "The job has got my name written all over it."

Tourism Australia’s managing director Andrew McEvoy said it was exciting to see 23 from the UK among 150 people in the running for the six jobs.

Mr McEvoy said: "Tourism Australia’s ‘Best Jobs in the World’ competition has clearly struck a chord with Brits, and I know there are some fantastic entries from the UK in the mix."

Finalists will be announced on May 15 and the winners on June 21.