A NEW Café and gift shop is to open in York city centre next week, helping to revitalise a once forgotten street.

ALMA cafe and gifts will open in the former Choice Select tobaccanists shop in Coppergate on August 6.

Its proprietors, Andres Jaroslavsky and Lisa Holah, describe it as 'a place for everyone. Art & Coffee.'

They said ALMA stood for Anna, Lisa, Max and Andres - a couple and their two kids.

Lisa said she had many years of experience in catering, including four years working at the Pig & Pastry in Bishopthorpe Road.

The cafe would have a breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea menu, fresh salads every day, open sandwiches and toasties, and brownies, fresh scones and vegan cakes, all made with local suppliers.

ALMA's arrival comes just months after the sofa and furniture retailer Sofa.com opened a new showroom further along Coppergate, which has achieved a more pedestrian friendly feel after becoming one way only.

Businesses have complained in the past that Coppergate was York's 'forgotten street' and 'becoming a bit of a backwater,' claiming that nothing was being done to improve the appearance of empty and boarded up premises.