A hotly anticipated cafe and restaurant serving ice creams, hot and cold drinks, and a range of sandwiches is opening in Uppermill this week.

Diggle-based ice cream firm Grandpa Greene’s has announced its new location in King George V Playing Fields on Wade Row is opening this Friday for takeaways.

The new eatery in the former public toilets at the edge of the park will be open for takeaways only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to give customers a “taster of what’s to come”, before closing and reopening as a dine-in restaurant from next week, according to a Facebook post by Grandpa Greene’s.

The post published this week, adds: “Further details are to follow (with our amazing new menu) so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to The Oldham Times’ morning and evening newsletters as well as our breaking news alerts

“We hope to have your support with this new venture as we’re sure you’ll all be just excited as we are!!

“Thank you for all of the continued support we’ve had, over the past few years especially, which has allowed us this opportunity! See you all there, TEAM GG.”

The new restaurant is set to accommodate up to 44 people and will be walk-in only with no reservations needed.

Earlier this month, Grandpa Greene’s was granted a licence to serve alcohol from the new premises, despite objections from residents and parish councillor Helen Bishop who raised concerns about the effect of serving alcohol within the King George V Playing Fields.

The company has insisted alcohol will only be served inside, and with food – such as Prosecco with afternoon tea which it says would be the "majority" of its alcohol sales, and no alcohol would be taken off-site.

Under the approved terms of the licence, the restaurant will serve alcohol from 11am to 7pm, Monday to Sunday at the new venue.

Further controversy was ignited this week when residents complained the chimney recently installed at the new eatery was not in keeping with the plans submitted to Oldham Council.

In a post on Facebook this week, Cllr Max Woodvine, who represents Saddleworth South on Oldham Council, said he had “received a series of resident concerns in regards to the current chimney structure”.

He added: “I have referred it to Planning Enforcement and received a written reply from the Head of Planning who has confirmed the chimney was not part of the original plans.

“He is currently exploring the actions that the council can take to solve this, and I hope it will be sorted soon.”

The initial planning proposals to convert the former public toilets which closed in 2018 into a cafe also sparked a mixed response, with 121 objections to 37 supporting comments.

Despite the objections Oldham’s planning committee gave the application, which includes a single storey glazed extension, the green light in August last year.