Lightea bubble tea shop open in White Lion Street in Norwich

Lightea officially opened in White Lion Street today to become Norwich's latest bubble tea shop.

Specialising in "popping" teas, the takeaway sells a range of cold brews, including classic flavours mango, lychee and green apple, as well as more unusual flavours including creme brulee, tiramisu and strawberry crunchie.

From left: Sheng Li (owner) with Susan, Mallory Bircham (manager) and Patrick (Image: Emily Goodwin)

Mallory Bircham, 20, is the manager of the store and was loving the first day in business.

She said: "It's been really good and the weather is lovely today.

"I'm glad that we are opening slightly later than we thought because the weather is so much nicer and will help draw people into the shop.

"It worked out really well in the end."

The design of the shop is inspired by the look of a shipping container (Image: Emily Goodwin)

The shop was due to open in March after Norwich City Council approved planning permission at the end of last year.

It was previously home to the Nanna Mexico restaurant and takeaway, which closed in August 2021, and was previously the Caley's Cocoa Cafe.

"Lots of problems popped up during the construction work," said Mallory.

"A few weeks ago, we had a truck crash into one of our signs we already had up, so we had to get that removed.

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"We also had to have a pipe fixed and lots of other problems, but we made it!"

The interior of the shop is painted yellow and white (Image: Emily Goodwin)

Lightea owner Sheng Li has a background in logistics, which inspired the shipping container design of the shop.

Both the outside and the interior of the takeaway are painted a bright yellow, with flashing LED signage through the inside of the shop.

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Some plans proved contentious with the city council, including LED signage considered "not in keeping with the streetscape".

Lightea is open from 11am to 7pm every day other than Saturday, which has an earlier opening time of 10.30am.

The shop is offering 15pc off every drink until Friday.