THE North-East’s fastest TT biker has opened the throttle on a new venture – a country town cafe.

Fresh from strong results recorded at this month’s Isle of Man races, Ian Pattinson and his wife Venita have opened a cafe in Weardale, County Durham.

Mr Pattinson, who was the fastest North-East rider at this year’s competition, hopes the Everday Cafe will offer some sort of payback to his wife for her years of supporting his riding.

The biker, nicknamed Pixie, said: “Having a cafe has always been her dream really, she has always been there for me so I knew I had to support her in making her ambition become a reality.”

And Mr Pattinson has even more reason to be good to his wife after he broke her bike in the Lightweight 650 CC Twin Cylinder race.

Mrs Pattinson said: “I had been looking to ride my bike down to the cafe every day, he needs to fix it quickly.”

Mr Pattinson finished 16th in the Super Sport race for 600cc machines and 17th in Senior Race for 1,000cc engines.

He said: “I am very pleased with those results, in the first race for example, I was riding a bike that cost £9,000 off Ebay, the bike which finished directly ahead of me cost at least £50,000.”

Mrs Pattinson used to run Applejack Care in Stanhope but said she has always wanted a cafe.

Their daughter Sophie is training to be the manager while they have also taken on chef Paul Evans.

He has spent the last few years working at the Palace Hotel in Manchester and in 2010 he won the prestigious Manchester Young Star Chef Award.

Mr Evans, who hopes to eventually run an evening bistro in the cafe on Front Street, Stanhope, said: “Weardale is a dream place to be a chef, you have beautiful scenery and outstanding local produce.

“This is a good community for both visitors and full time residents.

“We want to emphasise healthy fresh food as well as the usual favourites.”

Although the cafe will display some of Mr Pattinson’s racing accolades, he said it is not just for bikers.

He said: “We will welcome anyone and everyone.”

For more information, search for the Everyday Cafe on Facebook.