A MUCH-loved tea room in Tiverton which closed earlier this year looks set to open again as 'The Merchants Teahouse and Restaurant'.

Faithful regulars at the Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Gold Street were left heartbroken in Janaury when the tea room closed its doors forever after manager Sally Steer failed to come to an agreement with the new owner of the building over the business's future.

New owner Dawn Riggs has now made an impassioned plea for people to give the new business a chance when it opens via a notice posted in the establishment's window.

The note reads: “A plea to the people of Tiverton to give us a chance and judge us when we open, on our food and hospitality and not before we have had the opportunity to show you what we can do.

“Some people like change and some do not...personally I fall into the latter group. I enjoy the traditions of England and have spent my life researching plant, food and textile history.”

The note goes on to say that Mrs Riggs' vision is for a traditional English tearoom, which would serve “good traditional locally sourced food, with links to historic culinary traditions.”

Members of Tiverton Town Council last week expressed support for the re-opening, with Cllr Tony Head saying he had been “dismayed” at the Four and Twenty Blackbirds' closure and was happy to see another tearoom opening its place.

The scheme still has to be examined by Mid Devon Council.