The transformation of a town's rundown former county court building has taken a giant leap forward.

Paul and Janice Evans have just opened Wigton's latest eatery - The Barista - as part of a huge project to bring the old town centre building it sits in back to life.

The site, off High Street and Half Moon Lane, has stood unloved for many years but the pair bought it back in 2013 from the North Allerdale Development Trust and set about developing it.

Formerly a community centre, county court building and entertainment venue, the building will now be home to several businesses.

As well as The Barista, Janice's daughter Sam Knight runs a beauty salon next door and upstairs will be turned into a steakhouse.

The new cafe officially opened its doors to customers earlier this week.

Janice told The Cumberland News they believed the cafe, wine and tapas bar would be something new for Wigton.

"In Wigton we don't have an awful lot like this," she said.

"We do have the Kildare but we wanted to provide a really relaxed place.

"You have to go to Cockermouth or Carlisle for this sort of thing but now we have our own.

"People were crying out for something like this where you can just walk down and go to rather than having to catch a bus or train and go somewhere.

"We are both really passionate about this."

It also has a premises licence to serve alcohol and is fully welcoming to children and accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

Last year Paul, an engineer, and Janice took over Lightfoot's fruit and veg shop, which is next door to their building in High Street.

They're continuing to run the shop but are converting the upstairs into offices and customer toilets for when the steakhouse is finished.

It will be named The Athanaeum, the building's former moniker.

Originally on the site of the Black Lion pub, builder and carpenter John Walker bought the pub and transformed it into what he called The Athanaeum in 1852.

It was a place of entertainment and education with a newsroom and a library.

When he died in 1958, it was taken over by the Government and turned into a county court.

In the 1960s it became the Wigton community hall and in the 1970s the front of it was taken over by the TSB bank which still operates there.