A NEW café controversially opened by Weymouth Town Council has made £22,000 in sales since its launch in February, a report shows.

Based at the Weymouth beach office and toilet facility on The Esplanade, the new Prom Café sells a range of refreshments including teas, coffees, and ice creams using locally sourced produce.

The council said jobs have been created with the venture, as the café is run by one full time member of staff who will be supported by seasonal catering assistants.

But the council’s decision to run a cafe in-house was marred by controversy as it meant that the proprietor of a popular beach cafe, Aunty Vi’s, would not have an opportunity to renew his lease when it came to an end.

It has emerged that the council has also taken on the running of Weymouth’s Beach Café, also on The Esplanade, after a sale was agreed on April 1. Following a complete internal fit out, the kiosk was opened for takeaway services from April 24, with a decking area opened to the public on April 29.

The Prom Café opened in February, with tables and chairs added on April 12. Flower pots are due to be installed to ‘improve the external aesthetics’ of the venue.

A report to Weymouth Town Council’s Finance and Governance Committee, due to meet on May 12, says that since the catering service launched, net sales had been around £22,000.

It adds that more than 1,200 locally baked cakes had been sold from the site, along with 6,200 hot drinks and almost 1,000 ice creams. It says 500 toasties have been sold since they were added to the menu in April.

The report adds: “The menu is steadily developing, a small range of hot food has been introduced, and this has proved to be successful. Local suppliers are continuing to be used for the sourcing of locally produced supplies.”

Councillors will be told that an advert is now also live at the Job Centre for the Kickstart Scheme to recruit a team of seasonal staff.

A full financial report will be made available at the end of the first quarter.

The council has defended its decision to run the services in-house as ‘the best option financially’ to help generate funds.

Councillor David Gray said: "Each time a lease comes up we pick the best option financially for the council as a significant portion of our precept comes from income and our income comes from our concessions.

"We are an organisation that is not for profit. All the profit made from the concessions and all other leases we have goes into the income generation scheme which goes into keeping your precept and council tax down.

"While we don't want to run everything, we will be running the café to make a profit to reinvest in services that we provide to you."