The Rumwell Farm Shop near Wellington has had its new orchard opened by TV chef Lesley Waters.

The Rumwell team celebrated the opening at a special event, attended by the mayors of Wellington and Taunton.

Partner at Rumwell Farm Shop, Anne Mitchell said: “This represents the culmination of a lot of hard work by everyone involved here onsite. We’d also like to thank those who came in to help us, our many contractors and suppliers, they’ve been amazing. 

“It’s taken more than a year to get to the stage where we’re now able to declare our exciting events space and bar officially open. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved and hope all our visitors love it as much as we do. 

“We were delighted to be joined at our celebration by top TV chef and writer Leslie Waters who did the honours of cutting our ceremonial ribbon, along with the Mayor of Taunton, Councillor Sue Lees and the Mayor of Wellington Town Council, Councillor Mark Lithgow.

“Our Rumwell Orchard, which commands an amazing view of our apple orchards at the side of our Shop, is an extension of our award-winning Café. It will be available for private functions and parties previously held in our Café, including special dinners, birthdays, anniversaries, wedding receptions, wakes and more. We can formally seat around 150 people in the space, or we can divide it up into cosy smaller areas where people can use our sofas, if they prefer, for something more informal and intimate, like a meeting or team-building event.”

The event was joined by a further 100 VIP guests who joined the stores senior management and the Mitchell family in the celebrations. Canapes were put on by the Rumwell's cafe kitchen and the occasion was toasted with glasses of bubbly.

The family run farm store began its life selling potatoes when David and Anne Mitchell set up store at the roadside gate more than 25 years ago.

The business has gone on to win nine Taste of the West Gold awards and reached the finals of the national Farm Retail Awards.