COTSWOLD MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown had a foretaste of what is in store for visitors to a trade fair featuring the best of Britain, being held in Japan this week.

Mr Clifton-Brown was treated to tea by Topsy Taee, owner of Huffkins Tearoom in Stow, which will be representing the Cotswolds at the Hankyu Corporation’s British Fair in Osaka, which begins on Wednesday and runs until next Tuesday.

Huffkins, which has tea rooms in Burford and Witney as well as Stow, will be setting up a traditional British tea room, serving more than 1,000 cream teas a day.

The fair, which is in its 40th year, attracts up to one million visitors and this year has a Cotswolds theme.

Huffkins owner Topsy said: “I am incredibly proud that the quality of the Huffkins cream tea has been recognised in this way, and I am sure my staff will rise beautifully to the challenge of recreating a little bit of the Cotswolds in Japan.”

Mr Clifton-Brown was very impressed with the calibre of businesses representing the Cotswolds at the Fair, inlcuding Huffkins, R-Oil of Stow, Tiles of Stow and the Pudding Club, which is based at the Three Ways Hotel in Mickleton.

The fair will be opened by the British ambassador to Japan David Warren. Gloucestershire First, in conjunction with The Cotswolds Tourist Board, has cultivated a partnership with Hankyu Hanshin and other Japanese businesses in recognition of the importance of Japanese tourism to the area.