A COUPLE have opened their own traditional sweets and ice cream shop after struggling to find anything similar close to home.

After Tyla and Billie Hart realised there we no traditional sweet shops or ice cream stalls in Halstead they decided to launch their new shop – Chew It Over – last week.

Tyla said: “We have two children, and we feel there’s nothing here offering old school sort of sweets and there’s no where in town that sells ice cream.

“We’ve always relied on the ice cream van, but it doesn’t always come at the right time.

“We thought we’d just go for it – it’s something we wanted as locals, so we wanted to offer that to the rest of the community."

Chipping in - The couples' young children, Jaxon and Phoenix, helped their parents welcome customers at Chew It Over's launch, last weekendChipping in - The couples' young children, Jaxon and Phoenix, helped their parents welcome customers at Chew It Over's launch, last weekend (Image: Tyla Hart)

The couple, who married four years ago, held the shop’s launch event last Saturday (17 August), which saw more than 80 visitors.

Billie said: “We opened slightly early to get set up and it was just rammed straight away,

“We had a constant flow of people all day – it was super busy."

Welcome - The shop is decorated in bright pastel colours, giving that traditional sweet shop feelWelcome - The shop is decorated in bright pastel colours, giving that traditional sweet shop feel (Image: Halle Groves)

The couples’ two children, Jaxon, six, and Pheonix, two, helped their parents promote the shop on its opening day, and welcomed customers at the door wearing their Chew It Over uniforms.

Chew It Over, located at The Causeway, offers traditional sweets, including a pick n mix wall, as well as coffees, milkshakes, vegan and sugar free sweets and ice cream.

Delicious - Chew It Over offers a range of ice cream flavours, including vegan alternativesDelicious - Chew It Over offers a range of ice cream flavours, including vegan alternatives (Image: Halle Groves)

Variety - the shop offers a range of sweet treatsVariety - the shop offers a range of sweet treats (Image: Halle Groves)

The shop’s most popular sweets so far are its traditional pear drops, as well as bubble gum being the store’s number one bestselling ice cream flavour.

Chew It Over is open every day from 12pm to 4pm, apart from Wednesdays when it is closed.

“We’ve had lots of public recommendations to open Sundays too so we’re going to trial being open on a Sunday from 10am until 4pm,” Tyla said.