THE Mayor of Oldham visited a local farm shop to officially open the outdoor seating area.

John and Cindy Beck of Little Owl Farm opened their store in August last year.

This was following the demand for fresh, local produce to be delivered to homes across Oldham.

Although the petting farm and the inside cafe are currently closed, the mayor visited the shop.

Mayor, Ginny Alexander said: "It was lovely to open the Little Owl Farm's new seating area which compliments the already well established farm shop and has a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

"If you’re going up to the Farm Shop, make sure you take advantage and grab a cuppa and a sandwich or one of the delicious scones.

"I enjoyed a cranberry and white chocolate one and after lunch I wandered around and picked up a few extra things.

"The highlight of my visit as ever was feeding the donkeys, such lovely creatures and before I left though I couldn’t resist a scrumptious ice cream from Cheshire Farm Ice Cream."

Little Owl Farm Shop which is open every day except Tuesday from 10am to 5pm and sells fruit, vegetables and flowers and plants sourced from Smithfields Markets.

Produce from a variety of local companies is sold, including Saddleworth Butter Company, Jams from Lily Pickles of Holmfirth, Milk from McLintock's Dairy, Sausages from Pauls Quality Meats, Cheeses from Leagram Organic Dairy, Yoghurts from Longley Farm, Bread from Chapel Bakery, Brownies from Saddleworth Brownies and every Friday Marina Quay Fisheries stop by with their produce.

Little Owl Farm owner, Cindy Beck said: "It was lovely to welcome to mayor and we have had a great response over the outdoor area so far.

"The shop opened during lockdown because of the demand for local produce and we were so delivering fresh fruit and veg.

"The shop has grown rapidly since then and we have some great foods on sale from local providers."