Restaurateurs Richard Gorzelski and Edite Franca expect to open their hotly anticipated fish and chip restaurant in Malmesbury next month, but in the meantime their new family café opened at the weekend.

Portski has reopened at the former Wendy House in Silver Street complete with children’s play area and a refurbished coffee area.

The owners, who previously ran The Rainbow in Cricklade, hope to open upstairs in February to serve restaurant-style fish and chips.

Ms Franca said: “We like Malmesbury. It’s a lovely place and the building was available and so we came to view it and loved it.

“We could see it would be a good opportunity and we wanted to go for it.”

The name of the café and restaurant is designed to represent Ms Franca’s Portugese heritage and Mr Gorzelski’s Polish heritage.

Explaining the decor, Ms Franca, a mother-of-two from Cirencester, said: “I like bright colours and I want to be in here and have lots of light and so we have bright yellow for the sun and blue for the sky. We have had lots of positive feedback.

“The idea for the play area was there already so we kept that; I’m a mother myself and I think it is important to be able to go to a café and feel comfortable with children.

“We like children anyway so the more the merrier.”

The café serves hot lunches from jacket potatoes and baguettes to lasagne and macaroni cheese, with plans for a Sunday roast also in the pipeline.

“We wanted to open the fish and chip restaurant earlier but to start both at the same time would have been too much, so we thought we would do it slowly and adjust to the place first,” said Ms Franca.

“We are taking one step at a time.

“We need to get organised properly and feel comfortable.”