A CAFÉ in Maidenhead has turned off the lights for the last time as it officially closes to customers.

Strawberry Grove, on Bridge Street, announced today it will shut to the public after struggling to keep the business afloat in the town.

Stuart Downs, director of Strawberry Grove, said: “We said we’d fight to the end, and we did, but unfortunately we weren’t able to save our Maidenhead branch this time.

“We’d really like to thank all our customers who came out to support us following our announcement in February, it really made us proud to see so many of you back in the café.”

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Back in January, Strawberry Grove announced it was closing in February, but Mr Downs carried on fighting.

Despite the battle to stay open, Mr Downs said trading was made “really difficult” by a combination of rising costs and tax increases on hospitality.

“Our location so far from the main high street didn’t help of course,” he said.

“We also know there’s a number of things we could have done better, and we’ve taken away some big lessons for next time.

“We see a lot of good things happening in the town centre, and if the Council can get things right with the regeneration, and with their parking policy, who knows, maybe one day we will be back.”

That café still has a branch in Marlow and it is continuing its online delivery and catering business.

And there’s even a cocktail evening coming soon to the Marlow premises.

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Mr Downs added on the café’s Facebook post: “We’ll leave you with a picture from 2018 when we took over, and 2022 when we turned off the lights for the last time.

“We hope our customers have some happy memories of the place too.”