Bury café owners host Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Rob and Linzie Watts, who owns Number Ten Coffee Shop on Crompton Street, welcomed Rishi Sunak after he paid a visit to stallholders and shoppers at Bury Market on Saturday.

The husband-and-wife team, who have run Number Ten café since 2019, had no idea they had been chosen to host the Conservative Party leader until just a day before he arrived.

Following a whistle-stop tour around the market, Mr Sunak was welcomed at Number Ten along with guests including Bury North MP James Daly.

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Number Ten Café last Saturday (Image: Robert Watts)

Mr Sunak enjoyed a slice of Rob’s homemade Red Velvet cake and gifted the couple with a signed 10 Downing Street tea towel.

On the Thursday prior to the Prime Minister’s visit, Mr Daly visited the café and asked the couple if they could host a “senior cabinet member” that weekend, without revealing that it would be Mr Sunak.

"When security teams arrived on Friday to scope out the place, then we twigged what was going on,” said Rob, 47.

The PM made a good impression on Rob and Linzie, and passers-by lined up outside the window of their proudly British café to take pictures.

Rob added: “He was really nice and it was really good to get Rishi Sunak in the North.

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outside Number Ten Café in Bury (Image: Robert Watts)

“We were really nervous, we didn’t want anything to go wrong, we had to make sure we had enough staff in.

“Once he was in it was surreal, outside there were hundreds of people staring and taking pictures.

“It was just crazy for us, it’s the biggest thing that could happen to anyone, it was a really good thing for us.”

Linzie, 32, shared her husband's excitement, calling the experience, “absolutely unreal".

She said: “My husband rang up and said, ‘I have a suspicion that a certain person is turning up’.

"I was still in disbelief on Friday, it was absolutely fantastic to serve him."

Residents try to catch a glimpse of Rishi Sunak during his visit to Bury on Saturday (Image: Rob Watts)

In all, the Prime Minister stayed at Number Ten Café for around an hour before moving on to his next engagement.

But the tea towel he gifted them will be put pride of place on their wall.

“He was really friendly and down to earth, I didn’t expect it,” said Linzie.

“I don’t think he wanted to leave!”