An ice cream parlour has opened within one of Stoke-on-Trent's biggest parks.
Business partners Dave Shallcross and Mark Chadwick are operating Ice Cream, Treats and Sweets at Hanley's Central Forest Park.
They already sold Mr Whippy ice creams, hot food and drinks from a kiosk at the park and have now expanded into the next-door former bike shop which had been empty for 12 months.
Dave, aged 51, from Werrington, said: "We always ran the kiosk next to the former bike shop. And with the shop being empty for the past 12 months, we decided to take it on to have a bigger space.
"The Easter weekend was a great time for us to open because the weather was so good. Takings were higher than expected because of the beautiful sunshine and we were kept very busy all weekend."
The ice cream parlour opens every day from 10am to 5pm.
Dave added: "We do ice cream, milkshakes, cans, sweets, flavoured ice cream and slushies. Basically everything kids - and adults - like during a visit to the park.
"We had the unit properly fitted out with brand new cabinets and new machinery for the slushies.
"We're both really proud. The feedback we've had from customers has been amazing. Everything has been better than expected and it has been amazing."
Now the menu could be expanded to include a variety of hot drinks and cakes.
Parlour co-owner Mark, aged 41, from Chell, said: "With even more room we can offer even more variety. It’s been hard work but worth it for the final result.
"We've gone from selling ice cream and lollies to everything, and it’s nice for the whole community as well as people visiting the park.
"We want to keep our treats reasonably priced for the community and we’ve done that since day one.
"Everyone has been asking us to start doing flavoured milkshakes, so we'll be looking into starting those in the next couple of weeks. There's so much we can do."
Park visitors say the ice cream parlour is going down a treat.
Paul Johnson, aged 57, of Chell, said: "It’s a good stopover. I come down here with the stepchildren for ice cream and so they can play on the swings, and it’s usually very busy. It's a great local amenity."
Lisa Meredith, from Sneyd Green, added: "It’s a credit to the area. The parlour has given everyone a reason to come to the park, and what other park has an ice cream parlour in the middle!"
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