A Colchester hotel opened a coffee shop in the town.

The Red Lion Hotel has taken over the unit in Red Lion Walk beneath its High Street premises.

The building has been empty since December when Mr Bumbles Eating Parlour moved out.

It has been replaced with the new venture, The Red Lion Coffee Shop which opened yesterday.

Ken Hudson, general manager of the Red Lion Hotel, said the idea had been on the cards for some time.

The leases for the building were only sorted out five days ago and since then builders had been busy sprucing up the premises.

The coffee shop will open from 7.30am each day and there are plans for Sunday opening too.

Mr Hudson said: "The idea has been on the cards for a while. Once Mr Bumbles shut in ecember last year we immediatly began negotiations."

Mr Hudson said although Lion Walk was always busy he hoped the addition of the coffee shop would help encourage more people.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.