"WE'RE offering something new to Bridport": Owners of a Mexican food outlet have taken over as tenants of a West Bay pub.

The team behind the Bay's Mexican food takeaway, Tortilla Cantina, have taken over the West Bay Hotel.

Rhiannon Baker and Stephen Edwardes have been handed the keys to the Palmers-owned pub and are integrating their authentic Mexican menu into the classic pub environment.

The duo have been serving up their food at the pub on Saturdays for the past few months and made the decision to take over after the previous tenant moved on.

The new tenants have brought in a fresh team are continuing to hire.

Accommodation is currently unavailable as refurbishments are carried out. The works are hoping to be completed in November.

Mr Edwardes said: "It's pretty terrifying, it's a huge step up. Luckily we're used to the pressure as we originally started the business in a lockdown.

"The choice was essentially to either have a rethink or have a huge expansion. We decided to make the move as we needed to move forward and have built up a lot of custom at West Bay."

The team uses local ingredients to produce authentic Mexican food. Fruit and vegetable are supplied by Washingpool Farm, meat from Rawles Butchers meat and cheese courtesy of Ford Farm in Litton Cheney.

Mr Edwardes said: "Mexican food is a bit of a novel concept for Bridport, Mexican food in a pub even more so.

"We're selling authentic Mexican food, using local produce. We've made sure the food isn't too spicy as to not scare anyone off, however, if you are a chilli aficionado we have plenty of chilli sauces to spice the food up a bit."

The West Bay Hotel has remained open throughout the transition and going forward will open from Tuesday to Sunday. There will also be live music from 2pm to 7pm every Sunday through to September.

Miss Baker will act as the head chef, with Mr Edwardes looking after operations and the front of house.

Mr Edwardes added: "It's been quite relentless. We're very lucky we've got a diverse skillset between the two of us."

"I think we're offering something new to Bridport which I'm sure the public will take to."

Tortilla Cantina started up in December as a delivery service, before opening a takeaway trailer at West Bay in April.