A NEW Jackdaw has hatched in Malmesbury Town Hall after weeks of waiting.

The café area in the revamped building has become home to a coffee house bearing the traditional town name.

Former florist Jane Karr has taken over the lease on the area that has been empty since the first phase of the multi-million project was completed last year.

Mrs Karr, who is working with her husband George, opened for business on Monday.

She said: "All of the town councillors have been brilliant. They are really helpful," she said. "Obviously it is in their interests to make it work because we are paying them rent."

She used to have a florist shop in Chipping Campden and also worked with her husband in the ice cream trade.

But both of them love coffee and wanted to make it their living.

"It is really something that we have wanted to do for years and I got bored with flowers," explained Jane.

"We were looking all over the country and searching on the internet. We didn’t want a big town. We wanted a small town that had tourists coming to it and this fitted the bill. The premises were perfect."

Mayor Catherine Doody was impressed with the new business. There is a buzz in Malmesbury at the moment and this is going to add to it," she said.

The opening of the coffee house means the ground floor of the town hall is now fully operational.

New modern council offices, a larger tourist information centre, a new home for the Athelstan Museum and a gallery space were created as part of the transformation, which took almost a year.