THE winner of the Daily Echo Café of the Year competition can finally be revealed.

The Hutch in Seamoor Road in Westbourne has been crowned the winner of the prestigious title. 

Opened in January, the independently owned dog friendly café is open daily between 8am and 4pm and serves coffee from Colombia, cakes and brunch.

The Hutch, owned by James Roper and Warren Edwards, is the sister café to the neighbouring hairdressing salon Warren and the Hare which is situated next door.

Speaking earlier this year, Warren said: "When we created The Hutch, we wanted to bottle up the salon atmosphere and vibe and put it next door so another majority of people can experience it."

The Café of the Year competition launched in September when readers were invited to nominate their favourite café. 

The Daily Echo received more than 800 nominations as people rushed to suggest their favourite cafes, coffee shops and eateries across the area. 

All the nominations were then counted and the ten cafes with the most mentions were then compiled into a shortlist.

The shortlist was:

Arch Coffee House, 138a Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8AS

Brazilian Snacks Art & Café, Hinton Chambers, Bournemouth, BH1 2EN

English Rose, 18 Ashley Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth, BH1 4LQ

Hub on the Heath, 10 Adastral Square. Canford Heath, BH17 8SA

The Hutch, 62a Seamoor Road, Westbourne, BH4 9AS

Leo Café, Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre, Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, BH1 1EN

Like Mum Makes, 2 Wonderholme Parade, Bournemouth, BH10 4DQ

Mad Cucumber, 7 The Triangle, Bournemouth, BH12 5RY

Syds Slaps, 12 Southbourne Grove, Southbourne, BH6 3QZ

Two Wheel Tavern, 984 Christchurch Road, Boscombe, BH7 6DW

A Daily Echo spokesperson said: "2024 runners up who shone with the highest volume of nominations should also be incredibly proud of themselves."

A voting coupon appeared in the Daily Echo newspaper with readers encouraged to vote for their top café featured in the shortlist.

Voting was open between October 28 and November 16 before the much-anticipated counting process took place.