PICTURE-perfect picnic-bench afternoon teas have arrived at an Astley Bridge café.

Bolton Hospice's Old Bank Café has launched the cute and Instagramable Afternoon Tea Picnic today featuring delicious options like crème brûlée cheesecake, mini milkshakes, hotdogs, pâté and the all important jam and cream scones.

Sophie Price, café manager, said: “The new afternoon tea picnic is a fun take on the usual afternoon tea, and offers something a bit different for our customers.

"Afternoon tea is served on a mini picnic bench and includes some lovely treats such as mini hotdogs, finger sandwiches, mini milkshakes, a doughnut, and everyone’s favourite afternoon treat ­— a scone with jam and cream."

Miss Price said inspiration struck when she saw the picnic benches for sale online and thought they would make a great addition to the café, which opened in April.

She said: "I was tasked to bring in more people and introduce people to the area that might not come up here.

"I thought the picnic benches looked quite cute."

Getting everything ship shape for the unveiling on Monday has required a lot of effort from Miss Price.

She said: "We did quite a lot of back and forth with the suppliers because I wanted mini things but I wanted good quality. We wanted a variety."

Miss Price added: "My favourite is the brownie, it's like a sticky, rocky road top and a brownie underneath. You only need a small bit of it, it's really rich."

Later in the year for Halloween and Christmas there will be seasonal changes to what is on offer with the afternoon tea.

Shoppers in Asda got a preview of the afternoon tea on Wednesday. Miss Price said: "It was really good, we had a lot of people coming over and trying samples and had really good feedback.

"Kids were coming up, they thought it looked quite quirky and people said it was good value for money."

The Afternoon Tea Picnic is available daily between noon and 2.30pm at the café in Hillview Road. It is £17.95 for two people ­— this is an introductory offer until September 30.

Booking is essential call 01204 770 905 with at least 24 hours’ notice. The café has already received a number of booking for this week.