A SUCCESSFUL cafe owner is looking to breathe new life into a Dunbar business after missing out on it four years ago.

Bev Anderson and John Semple, 51, signed the lease for the cafe in Lauderdale Park last week and are already busy working to get the business open for around Easter.

The couple run the Wishing Tree Play Cafe on Musselburgh High Street, which they will operate alongside the Dunbar business, named Wishing Tree... By The Sea.

Bev said: “We have had the Wishing Tree coming up for four years.

“I actually had signed the lease four years ago for the Wishing Tree and three weeks later the lease came up on [Lauderdale Park].

“At that stage, I did not think I was in a position to do it.

“I have been coming to Dunbar for a long number of years and had a caravan at Pease Bay.

“We moved to the area and I used to take my daughters to the park. We used to play there all the time and go to the cafe and I always loved the setting and thought it had so much potential.”

Now, with the Wishing Tree up and running, Bev and husband John, of the town’s Countess Road, are excitedly working on transforming the building.

A takeaway hatch is being installed, with plans for a vintage ice cream bike and ice cream to be sold.

Bev, who hopes to create at least three jobs in Dunbar, said: “The reality is it is going to be fresh home-baking and local produce.

“We are targeting as much local produce as we can and there are a lot of good things going on in the area.

“There will be fresh homemade salads, the healthy side of things, but there will be sweets and treats as well.”

The business hopes to be open in time for the European Stone Stacking Championships, which takes place in the town on April 20 and 21.

Bev, 47, will run the cafe and was keen to get involved in community events, with the possibility of food markets also being considered.

The business will be open five days a week during term time and throughout the week during the holidays.

Bev said: “There are a lot of local events in Dunbar.

“There is Civic Week and other things and we are really keen to be part of the existing programme. There is so much going on in Dunbar and we want to be adding wee things in the future.”