TWO friends with a love for antiques are opening a shop this Valentine's Day dealing in their shared passion.

Seppe Anthony and John Hall have moved into the Victorian Jesmond Little Theatre in Newcastle, which they have transformed into a shop using the original stage to display period furniture, jewellery and antiques.

Their Fern Avenue Antiques Centre enterprise is both the biggest and newest addition to Jesmond’s Antique Village.

Anthony, who has dealt in antiques for more than two decades, said: “With the current popularity of TV programmes such as the Antiques Road Show and Bargain Hunt, people are spending their holiday and leisure time visiting antique centres like ours.

“This shop has been empty for more than three months now and we’re putting life back into not only this shop, but the whole of the village by creating interest in what we are doing and offering.”

Furniture restorer Hall said: “Antiques are an investment with the bonus that people get a great deal of pleasure by buying things they love.

“People love antiques and our job is to match the right antique to the right people so that they can look after it for the next generation.”