AN OXFORD pub landlord is planning to swap real ale for cafe latte and open a small town coffee shop.

Nick Bassett, who has run the Port Mahon in St Clements since 2010, plans to give up his lease on the place next year.

Instead, he and his wife Imogen are planning to open a quirky cafe in their adopted town of Wantage where they moved two years ago.

They have applied for planning permission to install an espresso machine and sell artisan bread and cakes at the former Oxfam shop in the market place.

Mr Bassett, who lives in Highclere Gardens, Wantage, with his wife and their young daughters, said he decided he wanted a change of pace.

The 40-year-old, who also used to run the Fir Tree pub on Iffley Road, said: "I love pubs, but because of my hours at the moment I don't get to see my kids at all.

"My wife and our kids, we love to go to coffee shops but we don't really go to any in Wantage: I want this to be the sort of place I'd like to go to.

"We like Wantage, it's a lovely town, and that building wants something really Wantagey in it.

"I want to be involved with the community: I want old grannies coming in to ask how the family are doing."

In their plan, the couple would run the coffee shop together while the children are at school.

In a planning application lodged with Vale of White Horse District Council at the end of March they said: "We will welcome customers from all walks of life and will have a very simple and minimal approach to decor.

"The focus will be on the sale of freshly baked goods such as loaves of bread and pastries as well as offering an unusual mix of antique kitchenalia and curiosities."

The proposal comes nearly two years after the Oxfam shop, which had been at 30 Market Place for more than 30 years, was forced out in July 2015.

Unable to find another shop with enough storage space in Wantage, the charity left the town, seemingly for good.

Staff at M&A electricals, next door to the old Oxfam unit, said they wished the Bassetts luck with their endeavour.

Shop manager Joyce Robson said: "We're just pleased that something is opening – it will bring more people to this end of town and we wish them luck."

Mr Bassett said he hoped the shop would open in June, as long as planning permission was granted.