STOURPORT mayor, John Holden, officially opened a new cafe and basins heritage room in the town.

Mr Holden set sail in a British Waterways Heritage working boat and arrived at Stouport Basins to open the Windlass cafe-restaurant on Tuesday.

The project was funded through a £500,000 grant from Advantage West Midlands to Stourport Forward.

It builds upon £4 million of restoration and enhancement in Stourport through the award winning Restoration of the Stourport Canal Basins Project, by British Waterways.

Other partners involved in the regeneration programme include Worcestershire County Council, Wyre Forest District Council, Stourport Town Council and Arts Council England.

Jon Payne, partnerships team leader at Advantage West Midlands, said: “This restoration project is a fine example of funding partners working together to create new jobs directly through the café and as a result of the investment and confidence that the improvements to the Stourport canal basins are bringing.

“The project also helps to support Stourport Forward, to continue to improve the town for the benefit of local people and businesses.”

About 50 guests and representatives of partner organisatiions attended the launch and had a taster of some of the new experiences which are being developed for visitors to the basins.

The Heritage Room is next to the Windlass Cafe and the display will be developed further during the next 12 months.

It is hoped that the Old Ticket Office, in York Street, will be developed as a Heritage Room for the town, which will also be funded by Advantage West Midlands.

The Windlass cafe has been converted from an old workshop and stable and was recently leased by Stourport Forward to Lyn Round.

Waitresses dressed in period costume serve refreshments and handmade cakes and scones at the Victorian-themed tearoom. The menu is traditional home-cooked food, using local produce.

Colin Hughes, chairman of Stourport Forward, said: “These are exciting times for Stourport and we plan with the support from our partners the ever growing band of volunteers to continue to put Stourport on the visitors map and support the businesses and people of Stourport in successfully growing their futures. This is not the end but the start of a long and exciting journey for Stourport.”

Tony Harvey, general manager at West Midlands Waterways, said the success could not have been achieved without close partnership working.

He added: “it’s really great to see that future projects like this one are adding even more value to the town as a key visitor destination.”

Tony Hyde, managing director at Thomas Vale construction, said the company was “extremely proud” to be involved in the redevelopment.

Further information about events and activities at Stourport Canal Basins are available at www.stourporttown.co.uk . For bookings contact The Windlass on 07511 328345.

People who wish to volunteer should contact Liz Durnell of Stourport Forward on 01299 822827.