A PENARTH pizza outlet has been covered with poppies in a bid to raise money for the annual Poppy Appeal.

Pizza Pronto, based on Stanwell Road near Penarth Railway Station, will also be open from 11am until 11pm on Armistice Day, November 11, with all profits going towards the Royal British Legion.

Owner Kevin Halborg covered the front of the small building in poppies earlier this week, and has urged customers to make a donation to the appeal and pin their own poppy to the building too. He has ordered more than 1,000 poppies and is hoping to use them all on the building.

Kevin, a former commando that has served in Afghanistan, said that the tribute was particularly poignant because of his military background and the fact that his business partner Simeon was previously a volunteer with the Penarth lifeboat crew.

“Between the two of us it’s something that is close to our hearts,” he said.

“I thought a sea of red would look good, and it would be nice if people could pin their own poppies up with a message too.”

He added: “We have had a good response from people so far and have already started taking donations.”

Kevin, who has owned the building for the last 10 years and relaunched it as a takeaway pizza outlet in June this year, added that it was going to be a “nightmare” taking the poppies off afterwards but they had already had volunteers from Westbourne School willing to help.

He added that anyone selling poppies around the town would be offered a free lunch.