A village has got its first-ever coffee shop, after bosses spent £100,000 transforming an old antiques store.

The Loose Goose opened in Loose, near Maidstone, on Saturday.

The business is a family venture run by Ricky Eldridge, his wife Melissa and his sister Kirsty Dixon.

Mrs Dixon said: “It’s going really well. We were so busy on Saturday that we had to re-order for Sunday as we sold out of cakes and pastries!

“And we’ve been busy ever since.”

The coffee house sits alongside Wards estate agents and the village post office at Loose Green. The building was previously home to an antiques store, but has undergone a £100,000 refit.

Among the guests at the opening was the deputy Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Brian Clark, who confirmed: “I can vouch for the coffee - it tastes great.”

He assisted Ricky and Melissa’s children, Darcy and Delilah, in cutting a ribbon to open the store, and the first 50 customers were gifted a free drink.

Mr Eldridge, 37, is new to coffee shops, but not new to business. He has run R&D Surfacing for the past six years.

The coffee shop is open from 7.30am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, from 8.30am until 4pm on Saturday, and from 9am until 2pm on Sunday.

Mrs Dixon said that so far the shop’s cherry bakewells, sausage rolls and milkshakes were proving the most popular items.

The business is employing six staff.