Tea room saved by the power of poetry

A TEA ROOM'S future went from bad to verse when planners were read a poem by a staff member.

- By Filipa Gaspar

Codford Tea Rooms in Wiltshire faced closure after the building's owners applied for a change of use.

But the council's planning committee was won over after hearing a poem supporting the tea room written by poet Lizzie Leigh who works on the venue's front-of-house team.

Lizzie, 65, became known as "Britain's tea poet" in 2010 after Quiller began publishing her poems exalting the joys of the tea.