Stewart Bell has opened up a sweet shop in Swaffham called Bell's Confectionary Emporium. Picture: Ian Burt

So what was your favourite?
Maybe strawberry bonbons or sherbert lemons or possibly rhubarb and custards?

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There are sweets which we all loved in days gone by and remember getting from the big jars behind the counter in the local shop.

And now a teenager – who was inspired by a school project – has opened a shop in Swaffham selling traditional treats.

Stewart Bell, 18, of Swaffham, attended Litcham High School and then Dereham Sixth Form College where he studied A-levels, which included business studies and law.

He is the owner of Bell’s Confectionery Emporium on Swaffham’s Market Place in what used to be the Tourist Information Centre.

As well as selling sweets including coconut mushrooms and brandy snaps the new store also has 36 different flavours of lollipop.

Stewart’s father, also called Stewart, said: “His mother and I are extremely proud of him.”

Both Mr and Mrs Bell own and run Legends Diner on the A47 near Swaffham, Legends coffee shop on Swaffham Market Place and 4 Bells Caravan Park, on the outskirts of the town.

Mr Bell, 51, said the caravan park had been in his family since the 1890s.

He added that he and his wife took over the coffee shop in 2000 and bought the diner about six years ago.

Mr Bell said that his son had drawn up a business plan for a sweet shop as part of his business studies A-level.

“The premises in the Market Place became available and we thought let’s set it up as a sweet shop and it can be Stewart’s start in the business world. When he (Stewart) was on school holidays he would come and manage the shop. The only way to learn is from the bottom,” he added.

Mr Bell said that both he and his son were quietly confident about the future of the business, which allowed people to reminisce about what sweets they used to have when they were children.

The shop is open from 9am until 5pm, Monday to Saturday, during the winter months and in the summer it will also be open on Sundays.

sophie.wyllie@archant.co.uk