A Suffolk tea room that has literally risen from the ashes after a devastating fire has been voted the winner of the EADT's Your Favourite Afternoon Tea competition.

Ian Booth, who owns Nutshells By-The-Sea in Felixstowe with his wife Jill, said he was "surprised and delighted" to receive the recognition for its two types of afternoon tea - a traditional version and a country afternoon tea.

The traditional afternoon tea features a selection of teas and cakes, along with a clotted cream scone and jam and a drink, while the country tea includes more savoury items, such as sandwiches, pork pies, sausage rolls and cheese quiche.

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The success represents a turnaround in fortunes for the business, which was hit by a devastating fire in January 2022 that burned down its Stowupland base in January 2022.

Rather than wait for the premises to be rebuilt - which they could not afford to do - they decided to open closer to home in Hamilton Road as they live in Trimley.

The couple now serve afternoon teas to between 40 and 50 customers a week and have also taken some of their loyal support base with them from Stowupland, as well as welcoming a new Felixstowe clientele.

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"We are pretty well known in Felixstowe for what we do, so hopefully this will get us well known further afield. We are surprised and delighted," Mr Booth said.

Mr and Mrs Booth had different careers, but decided to do something together that suited both of them and started the tearoom in Claydon in 2016.

Since then, they have moved to Sproughton and Stowupland before starting in Felixstowe in September 2022.

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As well as the afternoon teas, they also sell soups, jacket potatoes, sandwiches, toasties and sausage rolls.

"We believe we are pretty high quality and we consistently produce. It would not matter whether I served it or somebody else in the kitchen served it. We are very consistent with what we do," Mr Booth added.

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