AN INTERNET search for places in England where the sun shines the most was what led a South African couple to end up in Poundbury.

And a vacant premises in Dinham Walk seemed like it was meant to be for Natasha and Francel Du Preez-Strauss, who were looking for the perfect location to open a cafe in.

The pair - who emigrated from South Africa 20 months ago - have recently opened their new venture Fables and Food in a place where they think they have found the ideal work-life balance.

Natasha said: "When we decided we were going to move to the UK we knew we didn't want to live in a city, we wanted to be close to the sea and a good school was important for our daughter Elizabeth.

"I googled 'where in England does the sun shine the most?' I wanted to find the place with the best weather in the UK.

"With the help of the internet we were able to narrow it down to Dorset, I looked at the map and saw Bournemouth and Poole and then we started searching for somewhere close to the sea and ended up in Poundbury."

The couple describe Fables and Food, which replaces Cafe on the Green in Poundbury, as 'a bit of a different cafe with South African flair'.

The cafe, with food cooked by qualified chef Francel, offers specialities such as tea bread made with Rooibus tea instead of Earl Grey, and French toast made with South African bread.

A speciality is the lamb bowl - South African barbecued style lamb served on flatbread.

The feedback so far has been 'amazing', Natasha said.

"We expected to start slowly and build it up slowly but we have hit the ground running and it's been amazing."

The pair, who did all the interior painting and decorating themselves, have experience of running a cafe, which they did back in South Africa - a move Francel made after cooking for popular restaurant Moyo.

Natasha is continuing to run her small business in Namibia remotely while working with Francel in the cafe.

The duo hope to grow Fables and Food and eventually take on more staff and expand the barbecue-style side of the food offerings, introducing popular South African braai barbecue-style food to Dorset diners.

"We certainly have something up our sleeve. We're planning some exciting things for the summer," Natasha said.