Well-known south Essex restaurateurs had to go to more trouble with decorating than most when they opened a new eatery in Rayleigh.

The Ugo family, which already owns Ugo's and Irma in Leigh, have now opened Santa Lucia, on the site of the former Amigo's Restaurant, in the Old Parish Rooms, Hockley Road.

The restaurant will be selling authentic Italian gelati made on the premises, as well as pizza and pasta from original recipes.

It is owned by Simon Davies, along with Joe and Lucy Donnelly, whose grandfather Maximilian Rossi started the famous icecream company in Southend.

Miss Donnelly joked: "Perhaps there is an icecream-making gene in the family." But while the icecream production was always going to be easy, by far the biggest challenge of opening the restaurant was refurbishing the listed building inside which it is housed.

Miss Donnelly said: "It has taken us a long time, but I think it has been worth it.

"We gutted the whole of the inside and put up mezzanine platforms. We opened up the windows and it is now a lot lighter.

"Because it is a listed building, we worked closely together with the council and used a lot of the original material. They were quite keen for us to preserve the quality of the building."

Santa Lucia has been set up as a family place that could serve as a cafe in the daytime and a restaurant in the evening.