The opening date for a Harry Potter-inspired cafe and gift shop in Swindon has been revealed.

Stephen John Whatley and his wife Elizabeth jumped at the chance to set up a store full of wizardly wares in November after their Gorse Hill Tea Rooms landlord mentioned that an empty unit nearby would become available for a few weeks.

The couple are both big fans of the Wizarding World but were fed up with travelling to London and Oxford to buy the best products, so they wanted to make Swindon a major destination for fellow fans in search of good merch.

When their idea became a reality at last, they put a limited amount of goods on sale at first to gauge the amount of interest in this new venture.

The pop-up shop on 124 Cricklade Road soon proved to be even more popular than expected as fans flocked from far and wide to stock up on officially-licensed merchandise before Christmas.

More stock had to be ordered to meet demand and customers were full of praise for the new addition to Gorse Hill.

As their time in the temporary trading space approached its end, the Whatleys started searching for a suitable site where they could make the Harry Potter hub a permanent fixture in the area.

Their search has been successful, so Stephen shared the good news on social media earlier this week.

Libby's World of Wizardry cafe and gift shop on 70 Cricklade Road, near Gorse Hill's Iceland, will officially open on Saturday, February 3, at 9am.

It will feature themed replica photo areas, Hogwarts Lego displays, a house elf, a 15-seat cafe area serving snacks and butterscotch beer, and a retail area with licensed Harry Potter gifts, including clothing, wands, jewellery, and sweets.

Free parking spaces are situated behind the business, which claims to be the first of its kind in Wiltshire, and the Lego display walkthrough spaces and photo areas will be free to enter.

Private wizard and witch-themed birthday party packages will be launched in the near future.

The shop will then be open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.

Meanwhile, they will still be continuing to offer catering services for parties and corporate events via the Gorse Hill Tea Rooms side of their business.