A COUPLE who formerly ran a well-known ice cream business have taken over a quayside café and restaurant.

Kelvin Coles, 25, and Becca Tatlow, 21, have moved into and taken over The Cabin Dairy on Burnham High Street overlooking the quay.

The couple took over last week from previous owner Jeremy Stafford French, with their first day of business on Sunday.

Kelvin previously ran KC’s Ices, based in Burnham and covering a wide range of events in the town and the Dengie.

Becca has wanted to run a café for years, and with her graduating from university this year, they saw that the Cabin Dairy had gone up for sale in February, and decided to take it on.

Kelvin said: “Since getting with Becca we always wanted to take over the Cabin Dairy, but we never thought it would go up for sale.

“KC’s Ices was a great success, but Becca had always wanted a café business, so I sold the van when we decided to take over the café to give her the chance she’s wanted, but it also means I can carry on selling the ice cream from the small parlour the café has.”

The cafe has seven members of staff, serving breakfasts, lunches and some main meals with hot and cold drinks as well as the Gelato Italia ice cream from Kelvin’s ice cream van, originally made in Leigh-on-Sea, and newly made fruit juices from Wilkin and Sons in Tiptree. Early next year, they plan to close down for a period to renovate and redecorate the interior.

Becca said: “The response from the town has been incredible. On our first day on Sunday, we sold 111 meals during opening hours. We were knocked out by how popular it was.

“I’ve been here all my life, my whole family is in Burnham and I’ve wanted this for so long, it’s a dream come true to be taking it on.”

The café is open 7.30am to 3pm for food, with the ice cream stall open throughout the day which also does drinks and snacks. Visit www.facebook.com/thecabindairyburnham.