A new patisserie and macaron maker has opened in Ainsdale, Merseyside offering a range of homemade chocolates and pastries.

The Macaron Lounge is the joint venture of chefs Robert Swindon and Francesca Falbo Sahonta, and offers afternoon teas, celebration cakes, patisserie and macarons.

Sahonta said: “We’re really looking forward to the opening. We’ve worked for this for so long and it’s nice to know that people are excited.

“The first time we open the doors will be nerve-wracking. There is a lot of energy and buzz before the opening.”

She added: “You’re never 100% ready. What we do takes a long time to prepare, so we’re working round the clock. We are here early in the morning and late into the night.”

Swindon is a pastry chef, who also teaches pastry-making in Liverpool, and hopes to hold pastry-making workshops as part of the business.