THE Mayor of Winchester was with shovel in hand at the ground breaking event for a community eatery set to open in the Summer.

The Handlebar Cafe was the brain-child of teenagers involved in the SPUD architecture and education group, and will give visitors a place to enjoy a coffee near one of the city's most scenic cycling routes.

Cllr Frank Pearson was on hand to dig into the earth at the ceremony, and said: "Six years ago, I looked into the ideas when they had only just started. Now, it is just magic to see how far it has come."

Some foundations at the site on the former railway embankment between Garnier Road and St Catherine’s Hill have already been laid.

This comes after the JustGiving fundraising page in aid of the project reached its target of £350,000 back in March 2018.

Mark Drury, co-director at SPUD charity, said: "It has been a long journey, but we worked out how to make it happen. This is a local project through and through, and fingers crossed we will be sat on the decking with a coffee looking at St Cross by this Summer."

The project started six years ago with the charity bringing together a group of young people interested in architecture.

Joshua Snow is the youngest of the teenagers involved, and is currently 17 years old, in his second year at Peter Symonds College, with hope to study architecture at university.

He said: "It's pretty surreal seeing this come from some scribbles on a page to actually being built. It's been an amazing experience and has really boosted my CV. No matter how far away I move, I will always come back to check on how the cafe is doing."

Sebastian McDonald was also at the ground breaking event, and told how he got involved in the project after seeing a poster for it when studying at Priestlands School in Lymington.

Sebastian, 20, said: "It's been a brilliant experience and is proving very helpful. Not many people have done this by the time they are my age. Hopefully it will help me when I finish studying my architecture degree at the Kingston School of Art."

Building works on the cafe are set to be completed by the end of June this year, and it is set to be officially opened some time in July.

It will be run by city centre-based business Bespoke Biking, which will provide bike repairs and riding events alongside general cafe functions.