A SHARP-tongued star of a primetime TV show favourite will do the honours of opening a new garden centre.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel-Horwood will cut the ribbon to open the new Rosebourne Garden Centre, in Basingstoke Road, Aldermaston, on Sunday, 7 October, it has been confirmed, a day after the official opening on the Saturday.

The dancer will be alongside more than 80 new staff, ready to welcome visitors with the first 1,000 shoppers through the door each receiving a free cyclamen and those who spend £25 getting a £5 voucher.

The single storey 3,500m2 garden centre is on an existing nursery site which closed down, and it will include a modern farm shop, restaurant, butchery and plant centre.

The horticultural aspect will cover an array of options for shoppers from seasonal bedding plants and 'grow your own' offerings to trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants.

There will also be a section for gardening tools, equipment and accessories, in addition to garden furniture selections.

The restaurant will offer table service, and visitors can enjoy a seasonal menu as well as a selection of cakes or afternoon tea. There will be room for 180 diners.

Meanwhile, the food hall will be stocked with an array of local produce including eggs, honey, cider and baked goods.

The owners of Rosebourne, in Weyhill, Andover, which opened two years ago, decided to expand the business and so purchased the new site in Aldermaston.

An experienced team of directors will lead the new Rosebourne site in Aldermaston.

Industry veterans Neville Prest and Val Kempster from Garden & Leisure Group will take the reins of the site alongside Jon Kitching and Salim Sajid from Blooms of Bressingham and non-executive

director David Brown. They will be supported by chairman Charles Good and financial director Hugh Jackson.