An independent shop selling vinyl records opened in Hitchin at the weekend.

Gatefold Record Lounge in Hermitage Road offers carefully curated new and used vinyl specialising in hip-hop, electronic, rock, as well as spanning a breadth of genres such as funk, soul jazz, reggae and world music styles.

The shop also offers direct-trade speciality drinks, from hand-roasted coffee to superb beer from craft breweries across the country.

Husband and wife team Jak and Nicola Utley originally dreamt up the idea of Gatefold after moving to Hitchin in 2015. Tired of the rat race and eager pursue their own dreams, they chose to create their dream hang-out and share it with a vibrant town like Hitchin.

Jak told the Comet: “The launch on Sunday went really well – better than expected and we had loads of positive feedback.

“It was a great day. We had more than 200 people through our doors. Many people commented on how many records we had in our collection.”