The boss of a popular Kent bakery chain is opening a new branch in a town centre.

Garage Coffee Roasters is set to launch later this month in Richmond Street, off Herne Bay's High Street, as it expands the much-loved business.

The site was previously occupied by Bayked, which closed last year after its owners turned things around in the wake of a worrying inspection that found ants and flies on food.

Luke Underdown, who launched Garage Coffee Roasters in 2015 and runs the firm with wife Alice, has since snapped up the premises.

The business already has shops in Canterbury, Whitstable and Margate - with a roastery in Hoath, just outside the city.

"I live in Herne Bay and we supplied Bayked with our coffee so we were really sad to see them go," the 30-year-old said.

"We have been looking for a space to expand our bakery.

"We currently bake everything in our Canterbury shop.

"It became available and it was the perfect opportunity. We are going to build on what Bayked started."

He says the new shop will bring the chain's signature coffee to the area - along with sourdough bread, croissants, pain au chocolat, sandwiches and sausage rolls.

It will be takeaway only but there will be a couple of seats outside.

And although the opening times are to be confirmed, Mr Underdown thinks they will be from 8.30am until 4pm every day.

"We aim to make speciality, high-quality coffee accessible to people who want to drink it," he added.

"Our teams are well-trained in making it and we have three or four coffees from different origins to drink when you come into our stores.

"We will bring that level of knowledge and excitement to the coffee scene and bring high-quality products and ingredients from sustainable and ethical sources in our bakes and cakes."

Ants and flies were found crawling across food at Bayked last year - as it became the Canterbury district's worst-rated eatery.

The owners shut the business to allow for drastic action to be taken after a city council inspector made the shocking discovery.

A report described how the official was left "very concerned" about the cleanliness of the premises, giving it a hygiene rating of zero, the lowest score possible.

Following a re-inspection, the business was given a four-star hygiene rating - but the family behind it still decided to close.

Mr Underwood says he has been working closely with the local authority to make sure everything is compliant.

"There has been a lot of stuff we had to do to bring up to the level we want," he explained.

"We haven’t had to do building work, but we had electricians in, we made things safer and did some deep cleaning."

The new branch will launch on Saturday, January 28.