Questions have been raised over the future of a historic building along the banks of the River Mersey.
The old ticket office at Eastham Ferry in Wirral had been running as a cafe and ice cream parlour but has been closed since the man in charge retired last year.
People who live locally and are looking forward to a cool treat in the hot weather with stunning views of Liverpool across the water posted in a Facebook group asking what will happen to the building.
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A spokesperson for Showtime Ice Cream, who own the building, said they hope to open soon.
They told the ECHO: "Everything is in there, all ready to go. The front just needs a little bit of signage.
"But we have faced some staffing problems over the last year, so I can't guarantee when it will be open again.
"We will be pushing for it to be open during the kid's holidays, so the earliest date we are looking at is July."
They added that it is a great location and they were keen to start serving ice creams as soon as they can.
The building was constructed in 1857 and served as a ticket office for the steam ferry across to Liverpool.
With tough competition from the other ferries along the river and following the new railway link underground, the ferry closed in 1929.
The building remained and was eventually turned into a cafe and ice cream parlour.
*Main images courtesy of Phil Nash from Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 & GFDL
