Dispute over opening hours blamed for closure of popular Gainford cafe

A POPULAR village coffee shop has been forced to close.
The owner of Laurels Coffee Shop, in Gainford, Karen Birch, says she had to call it a day after battling through tough trading conditions during a year-long road closure and failing to get permission to extend opening hours
Neighbours had objected to these proposals over fears about noise and disturbance.
Ms Birch saw an opportunity to close the shop as its lease came to an end. She said: “It is horrendous. It has been really upsetting because we have ploughed a lot of time and effort into it but we have had numerous problems.”
Along with a dispute with a villager, attempts to get permission to open for longer hours to catch trade from people visiting the nearby Academy Theatre were never achieved, putting a strain on the business, she said.
Ms Birch added: “We hadn’t been asking for anything other than what other businesses have got. We ended up closing because of the problems. We reopened and were immediately hit by the road closure.
“It was horrific, all-in-all the A67 at Piercebridge was closed for two years – sometimes closed fully and sometimes with stop and go traffic lights. Gainford was like a ghost village because people took different routes. It takes a long time for a small businesses to recover.
“It is sad for the village, particularly the elderly in the community. They loved it.”
The building was virtually derelict before Mrs Birch took over and completely remodelled it, installing gas, new water pipes, sound-proofing and redecorating.
She said: “We built it up so it breaks your heart to think we have got to walk away from it.”
The 51-year-old is now also hoping to sell the sister cafe, the Laurels at Staindrop. 
Ms Birch says she was not able to concentrate enough time on it while dealing with issues surrounding the Gainford shop. The business has been on the market since April.  She said: “There is a lot of potential. It has permission to open until late and nowhere in Staindrop does food in the evenings. If I had the energy I had when we opened at Gainford, I would make a go of it.”