A popular sandwich shop has been saved thanks to a community-loving councillor.

The Beckstone Pantry, Workington, was set to close its doors before Councillor Herbert Briggs stepped in and took over management of the business, much to the delight of the bakery's regulars.

Getting involved in catering had been on coun Briggs's mind for the past few years, but he "never got round to taking the plunge".

But after his wife Tracy was made redundant from her cooking job, he decided to go for it, and decided to buy The Beckstone Pantry before the community were forced to lose their sandwich shop.

"When I first told my wife I wanted to buy it, she just said 'you're joking!' – life's too short, so I just thought we should go for it," coun Briggs explained.

Son Ryan didn't want to miss out on the venture, and co-owns the business with coun Briggs, while Tracy cooks the pies, sandwiches, traybakes, jacket potatoes, and the rest of the selection of homemade food on offer at Beckstone Pantry.

And it's "so far, so good" for the Briggs family, as business has been booming since they officially opened last Thursday.

"We didn't expect to be so busy in our opening week," coun Briggs said. "We sold out of tatie pot in an hour, and I told Tracy 'you better stock up on taties'!"

The Beckstone Pantry is open Monday-Friday 7am-4pm, and Saturday 8am-1pm – and with the range of ultimate breakfasts and homemade treats on offer, you'll be lucky if you aren't queueing out the door.