A COUPLE who met 17 years ago at a taxi firm and have owned restaurants and pubs across the country have returned to their hometown to set up a café.

Mark White and Lesley Crossley grew up in Breightmet and Farnworth respectively and met when they worked at private hire company Cobra.

Shortly after the lovebirds decided to go into the restaurant and pub industry together — Mr White as a self-taught chef and Ms Crossley running front of house.

After a recent stint running a restaurant in Cornwall, the couple moved to Tyldsley 18 months ago and searched Bolton for a place to open a café.

They found the former Pound Chippy premises in Newport Street last year and, six months and £30,000 later, they opened up Marleys of Bolton on March 7.

Mr White, aged 48, said: "Our landlord worked with us all the way through, he was really good with us.

"It took six months for us to actually rip the place to shreds. We literally took everything out as we wanted to get away from what the place was.

"This is all I've ever done in my working life, it's been food and drink. We have been together for 17 years."

When they started out, the couple had several businesses in Bolton including a fish and chip shop in Bath Street and a pub in Farnworth called the White Hart.

They also had The Shakespeare in Nantwich before their stint in Polperro in Cornwall.

Mr White added: "We always come back to Bolton so we came back and, after many months of searching, here we are.

"The investment the council was putting in attracted us here. The bus station moving to the top of the street were the key factors for us.

"You can see that something is looking like its starting to happen in Bolton. I think it is fantastic.

"This is a long term plan for us. This is it."