A NEWPORT cafe known for its retro theme and warm welcome featured in an exhibition celebrating local heroes last month.

Fanny’s Rest Stop and Cafe at Alexandra Road in Pill was opened in 2011 by Jo Evans-Pring, 59.

Defying the odds, the cafe has thrived during tough economic times, with its signature bubble and squeak dish, serenaded by 1950's records in the background, proving a hit with locals.

Attracting a wide-range of customers on a daily basis, the cafe featured in the Beneath the Surface exhibition by Newport International Airspace (NIA) at the Project Space between March 19 and 28.

NIA commissioned professional artists to give their own interpretation of an unsung hero living within the city of Newport.

One of these artists, photographer Jo Haycock, 35, from Newport, spent two months frequenting Fanny's Cafe earlier this year and having taken close to 300 photographs of the cafe’s staff, decor and customers, chose just 20 images for the exhibition.

She also interviewed dozens of customers to hear their stories, and quotes from seven of these, were scrawled on old vinyl records in tribute to Mrs Evans-Pring’s signature jukebox in the cafe.

Mrs Haycock, who has been a lifestyle photographer for 15 years, said: “Jo, herself, has a passion for telling a story and is quite a character. She gives everyone the red carpet treatment.

"I had often wandered past the cafe and was just drawn to it to tell a story about the people in there.

“Within just one serving at the cafe, I realised there were lots of heroes there. When you scratch beneath the surface, we just couldn’t live without them.

“It was a poignant journey and I’m really proud of it all."

Mrs Evans-Pring, from Cwmaman, invested £14,000 of her own money, along with £4,000 from the bank, into opening the cafe in 2011 after finding herself unemployed for the first time in her life following spells at Warburton’s and EADS.

Despite opening during tough economic times, the cafe, which has won Voice Magazine's Breakfast of the Year award three years running, has continued to grow and currently employs four members of staff. It has also featured as a filming location for BBC TV series Being Human.

Central to its success is not only the unique decor, but the drive and passion of its owner, Mrs Evans-Pring, who often works every day and does the cooking herself.

She said: “I never thought we’d still be here three and a half years later and it was absolutely fantastic to feature in the exhibition.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, but I felt it was something that I really needed to do after losing my job.

“I’ve been absolutely gobsmacked by the reaction and have not expected it to turn out the way it did.”