The coronavirus crisis saw the community respond rapidly to an unprecedented situation. Of the Honiton businesses quick to adapt, one was Lacemakers Cafe.

Situated on the High Street, as soon as the call came for temporary closure, it turned its hand from café restaurant to providing a home cooked food delivery service.

Set-up during the initial stages of lockdown, when panic buying was depleting supermarkets of certain products - loo roll namely - The Lacemakers had essential items covered as part of their offering.

It also incorporates services from other Honiton businesses such as Porkies Family Butchers, Creature Comforts, Wine World and The Crusty Cob. A fruit and veg box courtesy of Winchester and Sons in Sidmouth is the newest addition to the online menu.

And so it has grown from there, with Fiona Hanratty at the helm along with her father Councillor Ray Hanratty. From a standing start the business model has effectively adapted its service to provide for the community in a completely new way, with talk of local emergency services also set to benefit.

Nub News caught up with Fiona, who has been working flat-out since the outbreak began.

She told us: "It's going really well.

"I'm kept busy responding to orders, cooking and preparing food and ensuring it's ready for TRIP Community Transport to pick-up and drop-off at people's doors. Otherwise, I take the deliveries around myself.

"We've also been co-ordinating with other businesses on the High Street and including their products as part of what we offer.

"Now we're looking at other areas of the community who may require our services.

"For example, care companies needing to provide for service users struggling to get the meals they need.

"Another area we are hoping to assist with is at Honiton Hospital. Nurses are said to be struggling to eat properly on breaks due to increased staff numbers and a lack of resources, such as microwaves.

"There's also the police officers working nights who are now unable to pick up food from late night eateries so need to be catered for.

"These are issues that have arisen for our emergency services due to the current situation.

"Obviously, our food delivery service provides meals for people, but we also get a lot of people phone up to order and also have a chat because they're lonely.

"As an independent community business, we can provide that.

"It's been challenging but at the same time really interesting. We've had so many people thank us for what we're doing which makes it all the more rewarding."