A tearoom has been transformed into a town’s only sweet shop.

The Little Teacup in Bank Street, Ashford, has swapped sandwiches and sausage rolls for retro sweets, fudge, ice creams and slushies.

Owners Jacqui and Russell Geen took over the unit in January 2022, hoping the shop in Bank Street would be a ‘younger sister’ to their larger tearoom, The Little Teapot, in Park Mall.

But after 18 months, the married couple feel it is time for a change. Following a closure for renovations, the shop will reopen on July 11, as The Little Teacup with Extra Sugar.

Mrs Geen said: “Originally we opened this shop as a smaller version of The Little Teapot so people didn’t have to travel to Park Mall.

“While that was successful enough to begin with, it wasn’t building so we thought we needed to bring something different, perhaps it was too much of a good thing.

“We thought about what we wanted to do here, because we didn’t want to stop, just do something different.

“We kept the 1940s feel, and we still wanted to sell treats so we decided to go for sweeties.

“Then we all thought about the traditional sweets we miss, especially now in Ashford there isn’t anywhere that sells them.”

Alongside jars of pick and mix bursting with sweet treats, the store will continue to sell teas, coffees, frappes and smoothies.

Speaking about the nostaligic confectionary on offer, Mrs Green said: “One of the sweets I remember loving as a child is sugar mice and I can't remember the last time I saw them so we bought them into the shop.

“We have jars of pick and mix so people can choose their favourites in 100g bags or more.

“We have ice creams, fudges, slush puppies, all the things families will like.

“Also nougat bars, toffee and jars of sherbet lemons, cola cubes, everything you can think of.”

It will be the first sweet shop to open in Ashford town centre since Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe in the Lower High Street closed in August 2020 after a decade in town.

Before The Little Teacup, the unit was a sandwich shop called Shed’s.

It closed after just three weeks of trading, with owner Darren Groves saying “it wasn’t fun while it lasted”.

The space also previously housed Barry’s Kitchen and later the Bank Street Mini Market.

The site, which has now been redecorated, also has a space downstairs for Teapot Catering, another arm of the company.