A well-loved tea room and restaurant which has thrived for the last decade has announced it will not be opening again due to coronavirus.

The Tally Ho Tearooms, in Mettingham, has made many important memories for its customers since it opened in 2010 and offered hen parties, baby showers, wakes, and birthday parties as well as simple meals out.

But after “doing the sums and crunching the figures”, the business owners have made the difficult decision to close for good.

Miles Lamdin said: “Our lives are falling apart. This is nobody’s fault, though it would be nice to have someone to blame.

“In the end it is a numbers game, and small businesses were every member of staff must earn their crust are struggling. This is as much of a shock to us as it is to our customers, and we are sorry.”

He added: “With furlough coming to a partial halt at the end of July, and almost no support for the self-employed and business owners, we still have bills to pay and commitments. So we cannot open.”

Miles and Sunday Lamdin, who founded and ran the business for the last ten years, said they expected many of their most regular customers not to return after they could open from July 4, as many are over the age of 70 and would need to shield.

In a post to their Facebook page on Monday, July 29, they said: “We have now viewed all the Covid 19 safety measures and [...] we feel that the new restrictions, which we believe will be here for some considerable time to come, do not allow us to provide the surroundings and service that we have done here for ten years.

“We will miss all our lovely customers who have supported us over the years and to you we give our sincere thanks for making The Tally Ho Tearooms such a rewarding experience, and we are sorry we have had to make this decision.”

The Tally Ho Tearooms marked their tenth birthday in April this year, after they converted the former pub in 2010.