On Somerset Live - 'Kinmoza' B&B near Bath propels owner to celebrity status in Japan after inspiring hit TV series

The owner of a picture-postcard English B&B has become a celebrity in Japan - after her hotel was turned into a hit animated TV series.

Caron Cooper, 60, has even hosted the Japanese royal family after a chance meeting with a Japanese couple at a market stall in 1989.

Shozo and Yasuko Mitani, mentioned that they were opening a British-themed B&B in Japan, so Caron invited them to visit her farmhouse.

They loved it so much they modelled large parts of their Japanese B&B on her home, and as it grew in popularity she in turn began to receive an increasing number of Japanese visitors.

Her business then began featuring in Japanese magazines and on TV, and was the star of a major campaign to attract Japanese tourists to the UK.

Caron was then invited by the British Embassy in Japan to make tea and scones for the Japanese Royal Family at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.