A CAFE owner, who named her business after of her partner who died in a car accident said she is proud to keep his memory alive.

Debbie Calderbank, lost her “soulmate” John Hobson in a tragic road accident two years ago, when he was 65 years old.

John crashed his Skoda on the A134 near Sudbury into a tree - the cause of the accident remains unknown.

Despite the efforts of the emergency services at the scene at the time he died from his injuries.

Debbie, of Colchester, said she had been with John for a blissful six years before he died.

She said: “We always thought we wanted to run a cafe together and the Manningtree Deli and Cafe came up for sale and I decided to buy it. I changed the name to Hobson’s Deli and Cafe, as I wanted to run it in his memory.”

Debbie, 54, said she opened the business, in Manningtree High Street, under the new name just over a year ago and has been working hard refurbishing it.

She said: “We have decorated and knocked walls down at the back of the building and put in a kitchen cupboards, a new chiller and John’s cabinet.

“We have really got a good following now and I feel we have reached a point where people around Manningtree now know the deli as Hobson’s.”

Debbie runs the deli with a small team who she said are fantastic, and thanks her customers for keeping the business running.

The deli will soon be serving afternoon tea in the spring.

For more information about the deli, call 01206 395071.