A park cafe which has sat empty for years has been brought back to life after two friends bought the lease.

The building in West Park, Macclesfield, has been a cafe on and off but has been closed for three years.

But friends Louis Dixon, 19, and Ben Fraser, 18, from the south of the country were looking for a business opportunity and saw their chance to take over the premises.

They decided to move to Macclesfield and buy up the lease from the council.

Now after a new paint job and with a team of local staff, they have reopened West Park Cafe.

They say they hope the place will be a hub for the community and attract people into the park.

Louis said: “We’re really excited about the cafe and it should be great for the community. The building has had a deep clean, been re-painted and has wifi for our customers and we have a refurbishment on the cards for the future.

“Ben and I met after I opened a coffee bar at college and Ben applied to be a barista. Ever since we’ve shared our passion for coffee and been looking for business opportunities. My family live in Basingstoke where I grew up and Ben’s is in Andover. We found the opportunity and thought we’d go for it, so got together a team of Macclesfield locals. It’s such a great location and we can really see the potential.

“We locally source a substantial amount of our ingredients and are always looking for additional local suppliers.”

West Park dates back to 1854 and was originally funded by the people of Macclesfield as a place of relaxation away from work in the mills.

It has West Park Museum which was built in 1854 by Marianne Brocklehurst for Egyptian items she collected in the 19th century.

Louis said: “We had heard of Macclesfield when researching business opportunities because of its famous bowls green and the history of West Park.

“We really hope this will attract people to enjoy the park. We’re looking for local bands to do live music and think there’s scope to do community fundraisers in the park, treasure hunts for the kids and we’re hoping to get sports clubs to meet up at the cafe. In winter we could have a mini Christmas market. We’re really looking forward to being part of the community.”

It’s open weekdays from 9am to 6pm and weekends from 10am to 5pm.