VOLUNTEERS have closed a cafe that was once the heart of its community.

The Riddings Tenants’ and Residents’ Association in Deighton made the decision due to falling customer numbers.

Judith Coyne, who worked at the community cafe in Browning Road for eight years, is unhappy to see the cafe close.

She said: “It’s sad, but we had no choice because there just weren’t enough customers to cover our overhead costs and we didn’t want to go into debt.

“I’m particularly sorry for Shirley Brown, who has been volunteering here for 15 years. The cafe wouldn’t have kept going without her.”

Ms Coyne, who is secretary of the association, remembered better times for the cafe when she started to work there in 1999. She said: “Back then it was the heart of the community. It was more than just a cafe. People who wouldn’t approach the police or the housing officer if they had a problem would come to us.”

But the cafe suffered when the nearby housing office moved. Ms Coyne said: “Some customers stopped coming and then we got a lot of new people on the estate who didn’t come along.

“In the end we only had two or three customers some days, which just wasn’t enough to cover our costs,” added Ms Coyne.