A WOMAN who runs the 'UK's cheapest bakery' where a cup of tea cost 50p said locals thought she was "mad."
Laraine Cousins' business is in one of the poshest neighbourhoods in Britain that is full of trendy coffee shops and delicatessens.
But she has resisted copying her rivals who charge about £3 for frothy coffees.
Her bargain brews appeal to the army of builders and landscape gardeners who work for the wealthy homeowners of Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset. Laraine uses Yorkshire Tea and instant coffee.
She also does lattes and cappuccinos, made from sachets, for 80p.
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Her reasonable pricing is so popular she regularly has queues down the street and people returning two or three times through the day.
There are four other shops selling tea and coffee in Haven Road.
SuStudio, a health and wellness studio two doors down, charges £3.20 for a breakfast tea and £3.40 for a flat white.
Oxford's bakery and deli charge £3 for a coffee and £1.80 for tea.
Coffee Saloon charges £2.90 for a latte or cappuccino and Tesco has a Costa machine selling lattes and cappuccinos for £3.10.
Laraine worked for Avon Vale Bakery as a customer relations manager before taking over and changing the name to the Village Bakery in 1995.
She said: "My whole philosophy was just because it's a wealthy area, doesn't mean I have to charge high prices.
"Yes it is a very wealthy area, but they will all have plumbers, window washers, gardeners coming in.
"And every time there's a new development, there's more workmen. They come in five days a week, sometimes three times a day and they can't afford high prices, I wanted to help out the people who work round here.
"I decided I was going to sell them for those prices and just kept them at that. People think I'm mad, but so many people talk about it.
"Customers very rarely come in just for a cup of tea, they usually tend to buy something else as well so I'm not making a loss by selling them cheap.
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"We only sell Yorkshire Tea, which is probably the most expensive, but it's nice and strong and the workmen like that.
"And it is just instant coffee, we're just a small shop and don't have room for a coffee machine.
"Most of our customers have been coming for years. Some of them will come at 7am, 10am and lunchtime.
"In the summer it's absolutely manic, we get probably 150 customers a day in winter and over 200 in the summer."
It costs Laraine 26p to make a cup of tea, meaning she makes 24p profit per cup. She has six part-time staff working for her and no plans to retire yet.
