With experience of working with four police forces, Helen Rose knows how to handle people.

But now the former intelligence officer for the British Transport Police has turned her attention to catching customers, not criminals, opening her new cafe Helen’s Coffee House in Staplehurst with her husband Scott.

The High Street cafe aims to become the go-to haunt for cake connoisseurs and coffee lovers, with free Wi-fi, a children’s play area and plenty of comfy seating.

But for the couple, who live on Tomlin Close, it is also an opportunity to arrange their working lives more around three-year-old son Harrison.

Mrs Rose, 36, said: “I was walking up the street when I first moved to Staplehurst in April when I saw the tea rooms were closed and it seemed such a shame.

“Scott and I sat down together and talked it through.

“We have spoken to lots of people in the past couple of months, and we wanted to make this a place people would come back to.

“The local community, individuals and businesses alike have been tremendously supportive and generous" - Helen Rose

“For our little boy we really wanted to have him grow up in a village environment.

“I think people look out for one another more. We have really noticed that since we moved into Staplehurst. The ultimate goal is to be a family-run business. ”

And so far Mrs Rose said business has been booming. She said: “The local community, individuals and businesses alike have been tremendously supportive and generous. We feel fantastic.”

Mrs Rose’s work as an intelligence officer mainly involved planning, organising and supporting police officers in the field. She has worked with several forces include Bedfordshire, Kent and the British Transport Police.

Husband Scott, 40, hails from Gillingham and works in Kent Police’s call centre.