A popular Turkish restaurant has been forced to close and move to a takeaway-only service due to a lack of staff.

Cappadocia, close to Ashford International station, opened in May last year offering traditional cultural food alongside a jazz bar.

Named after the region of Turkey famous for scenic hot-air balloon trips, the site in Station Road had space for about 100 diners.

One of the owners, Serkan Gungor, says he has no staff left and - in the final three weeks before it closed - he took on all the jobs in the restaurant himself.

“My business partner has a back problem and needs an operation,” he said.

“I was struggling to do everything myself, like serving customers, taking orders, making their drinks, serving their food and wiping the tables.”

Mr Gungor says he will now be serving takeaways from the site, which has been renamed Cappadocia Chicken House.

“I am better off doing deliveries as the costs have dropped as well as I pay less wages now and I am using Just Eat’s drivers,” he added.

“I am going to carry on like this so I can get into the market.

“But after New Year, I want to start doing the deliveries myself.”

Mr Gungor says the cost of products has gone up, such as red meat and frozen food, so his profit margin has disappeared.

“I would love to reopen the restaurant but I will take everything as it comes,” he said.

“Financially, if I start breathing clearly I will try my best to reopen it as the business was doing okay.

“It is too early to be talking about whether the restaurant will reopen again or not.

“But before I closed, I could not do the jazz events over the past six months due to staff problems despite there being huge demand.

“Rather than getting a bad name by not satisfying our customers, I thought I would close it down.”

‘We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause...’

The site next to Papa John's was famously occupied by The Kent Arms pub for more than 50 years.

Greene King took over and renamed it the Fat Fiddler in the early 1990s.

In 2011, it was then converted into the Ashford Business Centre and a wine bar called Platform 5.

The Breeze Bar then took over but moved out in 2017 after spending less than a year in the building.

It was then vacant until 2019 when Mr Gungor and his brother opened Otto Bar and Shisha Lounge.

However, the pair decided to redesign the business after issues with Ashford Borough Council regarding outside space.

Mr Gungor and his family have previously been involved in restaurants in Tunbridge Wells, Gillingham and south-east London, where he lived before moving to Ashford.

The post shared on Instagram last week said: “Due to staffing shortages, we deeply regret to inform you that our restaurant will be closing its doors.

“However, we are committed to continuing to serve you through our delivery service under the name Cappadocia Chicken House.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding and support.”