Popular village tea room to close down after food and energy bills soar

A popular village tea room is to close down after its bills made it too expensive to run.

Bliss Tea Rooms in Waldersdale, near Chatham, Kent, will shut its doors on Friday.

Owner Shirley Bliss says the cost of supplies has been a worry for months, as well as rising energy costs that saw her electricity bill go up from £85 a month to £211.

"Sausages have gone from £18 a bag to £26 a bag. Eggs have doubled in price. A catering pack of bacon is now £3 more.

"Cheese has gone from £12 a block to £17. They are my staple foods here. I've no control over prices."

Shirley said she started to worry in October when she could see things getting expensive, and then things got worse around Christmas.

"I started my calculations, working out what I had to earn compared to what I had to pay out. And my accountant told me: 'This is not working. You are not making any money, Shirley, why are you doing this?'"

WATCH: Shirley Bliss talked to ITV News Meridian

Shirley started out home catering for tea parties with her daughter Melanie and opened the tea shop in 2015.

She now plans to carry on delivering cream teas and catering for parties, and delayed her closure until all her staff had found other jobs.