From fighting fires to the hottest coffee in town

Visitors to Ipswich Waterfront for the Food and Drink festival were able to sample fresh food and cuisine from many different cultures and around the world.

For many of them, including myself, it also was the first opportunity to see the Coffee Link mobile - a classic French Citroen fire engine offering freshly made coffee and also own-roasted coffees and blends to take away.

The French Citroen fire engine, dating from 1972, was apparently a smalll town fire service vehicle for most of its working life at Sourdeval in Lower Normandy.

Now Azzouz and Rebecca El-Mahraoui who run their Coffee Link business from Neptune Marina at Ipswich Waterfront have had it converted in to a mobile coffee bar.

Appropriately the new mobile will `link’ the Waterfront with the town centre, where it will appear on the Cornhill to serve customers hot coffee on Ipswich market days.

Azzouz said: “It is important to do new things in the town, to make it more attractive for visitors.

“We will be offering coffee to go and our own blends and individual coffees from countries around the world. There are many different varieties for people to try.

“We love Ipswich and we want to invest in it.

“We are very grateful for the support we have had here, People have made us very welcome and we want to contribute. I think it is nice.”

The fire engine was in fantastic condition for its age and had been converted to a petrol engine and for its new use.

“This is a beautiful classic vehicle and we think people will find it interesting.

“It has been a working, small town, fire engine.

“We will be on the Cornhill on market days, the exact location will move, and have the possibility of attending other events as well.”

Coffee Link is open seven days a week at the Waterfront, and also operates railway station kiosks and roasts and packs its own coffees at its Ipswich roastery.

It uses selected coffees from around the world including Brazil, Colombia and Guatamala.

The fire engine still has a ladder, a spotlight and a bucket - but they will not putting out an fires, added Azzouz.