A NEW tea room in Southampton’s Guildhall Square will be opened this weekend by Great British Bake Off star Val Stones.

So:Cake is brought to the city by the owners of The Stage Door, extending the fringe theatre venue downstairs.

The venue will serve traditional afternoon tea, cakes, sandwiches, pick’n’mix, coffees and cocktails, vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options.

The tea rooms will be open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

The venue, which has a bright sweet-themed colour pallete, will also be available for private hire.

Co-owner Julianne Watling-McCarthy told the Daily Echo: “We want it to look like you’ve walked into a French fancy, there will be pink everywhere!”

The space has previously been rented out, but the owners of The Stage Door felt ready for the new challenge.

They have brought in award-winning Southampton baker Jemma’s Cakes for guest cake spots.

Val Stone will be meeting customers and signing copies of her book on Saturday from 11am to 4pm.

She was among the amateur backers who appeared in the 2016 series of the BBC hit show.

The Somerset family baker and former headteacher has a traditional baking style.

But she can often be found doing aerobics in her kitchen whilst she waits for jam to boil.

Val had an extremely close shave in Biscuit Week during the filming of Great British Bake Off.

She came very close to being sent home after her gingerbread representation of New York collapsed.

But then she came alive in Bread Week, winning the fiendish Dampfnudel technical challenge.

The series, starring Sandi Toksvig, Noel Fielding, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, was eventually won by PE teacher Candice Brown.