A CAFE owner is facing a race against time to get his new premises open for the Grand Depart.

David Henson is currently carrying out an extensive refurbishment of the Cooke Street, Keighley, premises, which overlook Town Hall Square alongside the Tour de France route.

He hopes to open early on the day of the race, July 6.

“Everyone in Keighley is delighted that this massive event is coming to our town and I’m very proud that I’ll have the chance to be a part of that," said Mr Henson.

"But it’s certainly given me a challenge of my own and I’m working day and night against the clock to get the cafe ready for the big weekend."

He has entered the cafe trade following redundancy after a lifetime working in IT, and he is being supported by Keighley-based Airedale Enterprise Services (AES).

AES business advisor Rav Panesar, who helped Mr Henson with a business plan, said: “When discussing the timescales with David we had to look at the big picture. The Tour de France weekend is a chance in a lifetime to launch a new cafe with hundreds of customers in the area but I also wanted to be sure this was underpinned by a robust business plan which will build on that weekend and into the future."