A HEREFORDSHIRE cafe and takeaway has announced it will close at the end of the month after a "massive drop" in pedestrians in the town.

In an announcement on social media, Leominster's RJ's Smoke Shack in South Street said they would be closing at the end of the month.

"It hasn’t been the easiest decision to make but with the cost of all the products and the energy bills still going up, it’s gave us no choice but to close," the announcement said.

"We didn’t want to continue to put the prices up as I wanted this place to be good food at a reasonable price which I thought we smashed!"

The announcement said the business had seen a "massive drop of pedestrians in the local town since the closure of the banks, which has had a massive effect not just on our business but many in the town".

RJ's Smoke Shack will still be serving food up until March 31, with deliveries still on offer on Friday and Saturdays, but fans of the business needn't worry, as it is not coming to a complete end.

"We will still be about in the trailer, so any events that have been booked in we will still be there," the business confirmed. 

"We are hoping to continue doing the breakfast items out of the trailer, just waiting on confirmation so please keep an eye on the page for updates!

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"Maybe we will start doing pop-ups in Leominster on certain nights of the week?

"With the trailer getting busier and busier we need to put all our effort into that from now on."

The announcement said the team had made some great friends among their customers and that they would be said to say their last goodbyes.

"Please pop by in the next couple of weeks to make the most of quite easily one of the best breakfasts in town and by far the best burgers," they said. 

"It will be great to get to say goodbye to all of our customers in person but if not I just want to say from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for supporting us in our journey and hopefully continue to support us out on the road!"

Rob Ramshaw and John Crook, along with two silent partners, have brought new life to the former Bells Court Cafe by opening RJ's Smoke Shack in 2022.

The pair first started cooking their own smoked food and gourmet during lockdown, posting pictures of their food on social media.

"It went crazy," Mr Crook said at the time. "People started asking when they could start getting some of our food and pushing us to start serving it to the public, so we had a chat about it all and thought right let’s go for this!"

Leominster's HSBC, Barclays and Halifax branches all closed last year.