A FALMOUTH man has swapped his tachograph for mugs of tea.

Mark "Mitch" Mitchell spent 40 years as a long distance lorry driver, which has qualified him to know a good burger or bacon bap when he sees one.

"Wherever you go you see snack bars on the roadside and you learn which ones to use and which ones to avoid. I've had enough of lorry driving so I thought I'd give this a go now I'm semi-retired."

MTM Catering, as it is known, is situated in Tregoniggie Industrial Estate and will offer breakfast and lunch options from 8am until 2.30pm every week day and 8am to 2pm on Saturdays.

Mitch officially opens today, although to his dismay, some advertising signs he has put up in the area have gone missing.

"There's nothing else around here serving the sort of food I'm doing. There's Marina's Pasties also on the estate, but that's the only other place, so hopefully I'll get some regular trade," he added.

It is not his first catering venture, having run the cafe in Falmouth Docks several years ago, before latterly employing someone to run it for him.

Mitch put his driving skills to good use when he towed the catering van back from Cardiff with his car.

He bought it two weeks ago and set it up in the last week, ahead of today's launch.

The menu on the front of van came with it, but he has ruled out one of the options, which is a bacon and black pudding breakfast roll.

"Black pudding is essentially pig's blood - I don't want that so I won't be cooking it," he said.

The van is at the far end of the industrial estate, in Empire Way. He can take orders on 07970 641010.