A hugely talented and respected artist will be exhibiting his stunning work at the Art & Soul Café in St Neots.

Andy Dakin, who grew up in St Neots and studied fine art at Manchester University, was also a former Longsands School pupil.

His work of portraits and cityscapes has won him widespread critical acclaim and awards from The Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Cambridge Drawing Society and annual Open Studios city wide event.

This will be the first time he has exhibited his work in his home town for 28 years and when asked, why now, he replied: “The new gallery at the Art & Soul is an amazing space and not too big, which means I can show all my artwork, including some of my bigger pieces. Plus, the café sells amazing cake, so it was a no brainer decision really.”

The exhibition runs until April 5.

The Art & Soul Cafe opened in November last year and is located in New Street.

The venue comprises a ground floor coffee shop, together with, a first floor, art gallery and creative workshop, studio space and conference facilities.

The cafe offers a range of high-quality coffee, home-made cakes and food and the work of artists is displayed around the cafe and in the gallery on the first floor.

The venture has been described as a “cafe, gallery and creative hub” by art enthusiasts Tim and Caroline Richardson.

In the coming weeks, there are oil painting, silk printing and bead-making workshops. To find out more and to book, go to: www.artandsoul@cafe.

The cafe is open from 9am till 5.30pm, from Monday till Saturday and from 10am till 4pm on Sunday. A ‘chatty cafe’ is held on Wednesdays from 2pm-4pm.