Man taken ill at Thyme Out Café in Great George Street, Weymouth

Alison Scrivin, owner of Thyme Out Café on Great George Street, described how quick-thinking son Mike, who works in the kitchen, sprang into action after a local customer was suddenly taken ill on Wednesday lunchtime.

Said Alison: "It was a bit surreal really - he just collapsed - he was having a fit and then went into cardiac arrest. My son who's a chef in here gave him CPR. He trained as a first aider many years ago - he knew what to do luckily enough."

Alison said she knows the man quite well and that they often sing songs together when he comes to the café.

She added: "He came in like normal, sat down and ordered his food. Normally he has a latte or just coffee - he was eating his meal and then he put down his spoon and said: 'I really fancy a glass of milk.'

"I turned around, poured him his glass of milk and then - I didn't actually see him fall - but he'd come off his chair and was having a fit.

"A staff member dialled 999 and me and Mike ran round and he started giving the man CPR."

Two ambulances arrived, but as a precaution paramedics had to don PPE suits before they could enter the building.

"We just carried on doing CPR until they could come in and take over," Alison added.

"It was quite surreal really - I've owned this caff for 15 years - I've seen a few people have epileptic fits over the years but nothing like this has happened before.

"The paramedics were brilliant - they did get his heart rate going before they took him out of here. They came back in afterwards and thanked my son for giving him CPR and said it would have helped him. I'm just hoping he will be ok and want to wish him a fast recovery."

As reported, land and air ambulance crews were called to the incident at around 11.20am yesterday.

A spokesman said the man was taken to hospital "in a serious condition."

Following the incident the café reopened after replacing social distancing protective screens that were moved out of the way during the emergency.