A CAFE and cocktail bar has opened its doors in Kidderminster at the site of the old Veeno wine bar, which closed earlier this month.

Wall 2 Wall welcomed its first customers at a soft opening event last night (Thursday) and is now officially open to the public, offering an extensive drinks menu, including chemistry cocktails and alcoholic hot drinks, and a food menu comprising pizzas, bagels and salads.

The riverside venue has undergone a refurbishment after being taken over by 25-year-old Balkar Garcha, from Wolverhampton, who ran the former Veeno franchise.

He told The Shuttle: "I was on holiday when Veeno liquidated the franchise model so we've had three weeks to kit the place out ourselves using recycled materials and bits from charity shops.

"Wall 2 Wall has a completely different colour scheme, a different menu and the bar has changed quite a bit. It's amazing what a lick of paint can do.

"The last drinks menu was overpriced so we've reviewed all the prices, added a load of cocktails, including fire and smoke cocktails and a range of boozy hot drinks. We're the first in the area to do that."

The new menu offers a range of traditional cocktails, ranging from £6 to £7.50, plus a selection of gins and spirits and alcoholic hot drinks including a Bailey's latte, Irish coffee, orange hot chocolate and a Mexican coffee.

Balkar added: "We're the only independent business between the four riverside units, so we want to keep that personal feel while remaining professional.

"By day we'll be more of a coffee shop, offering fresh coffee sourced locally from Birmingham, and we've got a breakfast menu coming in the next two weeks with a range of breakfast bagels.

"Then after 4pm we'll turn into a cocktail bar and provide an evening menu, so we'll accommodate for a younger crowd.

"We're looking at getting a DJ on a weekly basis during the weekends and we've got a lot of adult board games too.

"It's got a really funky cafe-come-cocktail-bar vibe. There's nothing like this in Kidderminster."

Four of Veeno's employees have stayed on at Wall 2 Wall, and Balkar says he is looking to take on another three members of staff.

For more information, search Wall 2 Wall on Facebook.