IT WAS love in an instant the first time Maureen Little visited Morocco – and now she can soak up the sights and surroundings of the souk in her own little piece of the East, in Lark Lane.

Social care provider Ms Little, 54, has invested £300,000 in her Arabesque Bazaar and Bistro, selling rugs, ceramics and goods sourced directly from Berber artisans in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, and offering an authentic taste of Morocco from a menu including tagine, Couscous, Moroccan soups and Moroccan mint tea.

The mother-of-three said she was bewitched the first time she visited Tangiers five years ago, and on subsequent visits to Marrakech: “It feels as if the whole of life is there in its raw state. The smells, the clothing people wear and the noises, the call to prayer.”

She added: “The people are really friendly. They’re all hustling and trying to earn a living, but they’re all hard working.”

She had toyed with the idea of bringing a little taste of Morocco to Liverpool but believes it was fate that eventually guided her to open her new business venture after she had sold her social care business in 2010.

“The thought of doing something like this unconsciously started taking seed, but when you’re working full time there’s no scope for making a dream reality.

“But when I made the decision I was going to go ahead and do it, it all happened quite quickly.

“I had sold my business in June and had money in the bank.”

A week after returning from Marrakech she was organising a birthday party and visited a caterer in Aigburth Road, and then carried on to Lark Lane, explaining: “There was only one place we could have a shop like this.”