A POPULAR Hereford cafe will close permanently later this month.

The Enchanted Tea House, in Hereford's Broad Street will close its doors after June 24.

In an announcement made on June 14, the team said they were "gutted" to be permanently closing, but that the cost of living and of owning a small business has increased to the point where it is "just futile" to attempt to continue.

The business, set up by Josh Davies and Orin Vallely, both 30, as an intimate studio theatre for children, aiming to bring live interactive experiences in November 2018, signed the lease on the Broad Street premises a year ago.

Previously known as Enchanted Kingdom and based in the Maylord Shopping Centre, the business was rebranded, and the move allowed it to expand its offering to bring a family-friendly tea house to Hereford.

Mr Davies and Mr Vallely said that while their weekend events have kept them afloat, a lack of midweek trade and people having less passive income to spend on a day-to-day basis, has hit the business.

"It isn't feasible to continue from such an expensive location and the associated costs such a beautiful building entails," the announcement said.

"We would like to thank every single person who has supported our business from the start, both as the Enchanted Kingdom and Enchanted Tea House.

"Whilst we are beyond gutted we still plan to bring a little magic to the city with our characters being available to hire to all of your parties and events and with pop-up events at locations throughout the city.

"We are currently in talks with a small premises for the festive months, so that we can at least run a Santa’s grotto, as we know that our Santa Claus is the real deal for a lot of families."

Anyone with a booking, gift voucher, or party booked will be contacted and fully refunded, the announcement confirmed.