ONE of the oldest and most iconic names has returned to the streets of a North-East town after a three-year absence.

After passing from the descendants of Italian pioneers in recent years to a lawyer and then Hungarian emigrants, Darlington’s Anty Richards cafe is now in the hands of a builder who is originally from Jersey.

For decades, Anty Richards passed through the generations of the family of Italian Angello Rissetto, whose Anglicised name was inspiration for the cafe.

Mr Rissetto was the son of Italians Domenico and Maria.

He came to Darlington via Sheffield and a return to the family home in Lavagna, near Genoa.

Towards the end of the 19th Century, he and his wife Jane, and son Albert, moved to Darlington.

He opened a confectionery shop in Westbrook Buildings, Northgate, opposite the site of the current building.

The couple made their own ice cream from a factory in the town’s Westbrook Villas, selling it across the area.

It was not until 1928 that the business moved to its current site. However, having been taken over by Lesley Munshi, a former barrister and nurse in March 2007, it shut only 18 months later.

It remained closed for little more than another year, until Lica and Ramona Ianos, from Gyla, in Hungary, re-opened it under the name Continental Maestro.

But now John Le Masurier has taken over the lease on a three-year deal and restored its original name.

Mr Le Masurier, whose father came from Jersey to Darlington after meeting his wife, is a builder by trade.

He decided to take on the cafe for his girlfriend to run, but because she is now pregnant, he will operate it with his girlfriend’s mother, Carol Swainston, as chef.

Mr Le Masurier said it would sell “good, old, traditional food”.

He added: “I just wanted to keep it as a cafe as it originally was like when Anty Richards has it.

“Everyone wants it the way it originally was. Everyone loved it. It was a popular place.

“Everyone knew it under the old name. If I changed it to another name, no one would really know where it was.

“It is a big change from being a builder. I want to get it up and running first and see how things turn out.”

Anty Richards is open 7.30am to 3pm on weekdays and 8am to 1.30pm on Saturday.