A butterfly-themed café has opened in the Norfolk countryside ahead of a five-acre insect zoo launching at the site later this year.

Martin French, 61, from Old Catton, has opened The Chrysalis Café in Nowhere Lane, in Lenwade, which is decorated with pictures of butterflies and moths.

Mr French runs company BugzUK and work is well underway to build the country's first major invertebrate park at the site, previously the home of the Great Witchingham Wildlife Park.

He is hoping to have the park open by the end of May, dependent on building work, but in the meantime people can get a taster of what to expect in the café.

There is free parking and indoor and outdoor seating and on offer are main meals, quiches, full English breakfasts, jacket potatoes, soups and hot and cold drinks.

The chef is Andrew Larwood, who has worked in many Norfolk establishments and eventually they want to do edible insect dishes too.

Mr French said: "We opened the café last Friday and have had a stream of people through, which we are hoping to slowly build up ahead of opening the park.

"It is something different with good food in nice surroundings in the middle of the countryside."

Mr French previously worked as a chartered accountant, but his passion was breeding tropical invertebrates in his garden shed.

The site will begin with three visitor centres with 15 zones where people can see all different types of creatures, ranging from tarantulas to millipedes, alongside a gift shop and the café.

The park will then be developed over the next ten years.

Mr French added: "I have found that a lot of people who are not necessarily interested in insects are surprised how interested they are when seeing different things.

"Visitors will have never seen 95pc of the insects before, not like a normal zoo where you can see lions and tigers elsewhere."

Mr French will breed most of the insects himself, with others sourced from across the UK and abroad.

The Chrysalis Café is currently open Wednesday to Sunday 8.30am to 3.30pm/4pm