A long-awaited cat café which has been in the works for more than five years is finally set to open next month.

Pip Harris, 27, who owns Canterbury Tails in Mercery Lane, first announced the business would launch more than 18 months ago, but now says it is in the “home stretch”.

The unique eatery, which will be the city’s first-ever cat café and the UK’s only vegan one - is set to open just a stone’s throw from the Cathedral at the end of May.

Pip plans to ease the 21 resident moggies into public life by running the cafe at reduced capacity for the first three weeks.

During this period, which will follow an invite-only grand opening, tables will only be available to pre-book on the Canterbury Tails website and Pip expects them to fill up fast.

The businesswoman explained multiple factors had led to delays with the cafe’s opening, including Covid, setbacks with renovations and the Stodmarsh lakes issue, which stalled developments across the county.

Pip, from Margate, said: “We’re really excited to open and make it happen finally. It’s been a long time coming.”

The coffee shop-cum-cattery will be the UK’s first vegan cat café and Canterbury’s only establishment serving exclusively plant-based dishes.

“I know some people aren't going to like it but it's our ethos and it’s what we’re doing,” she said.

“We are fully vegan, fully plant-based. I'm vegan, my partner's vegan and we are passionate about that both for environmental and also animal welfare reasons.

“We want to offer everything that you would expect at a normal café and we don't want anyone feeling left out.

“So we're going to offer all the coffee shop favourites but just a plant-based alternative, that will still be yummy and that you’re still going to enjoy.

“It's just healthier for the environment and animals and everything else.”

Despite Pip’s dedication to animal welfare, she has been the target of significant online negativity since Canterbury Tails was first announced.

Some raised concerns the concept would be harmful to felines housed there, and more recently, the café’s all-vegan menu has sparked a social media backlash.

Pip said: “I've had quite a lot of online backlash, first from vegans trying to take the business down before it even started by making a lot of incorrect assumptions.

“Negativity is always going to be out there so we're just going to try and tell people how it is. If they want to make their assumptions, all we can do is tell them the truth.

“These are not cats for a business, these are my cats which I'm sharing with everyone and sharing my love of cats with everyone. These cats are not up for adoption, these cats will live here forever because that is something that I didn't agree with in other cat cafés.

“Cats don't like change and not every cat is suited to a communal environment and not every cat is a people cat.”

On whether potential customers will be put off by the vegan menu, Pip said: “People are not coming here for the food, they're coming here for the cats.

“It's essentially a cat-only petting zoo where you can sit and have a coffee and a cake, but it will be a nice coffee and a cake.”

Unlike the guests, the furry residents will not rely on plant-based cuisine as cats are obligate carnivores meaning they require a diet of mostly meat.

The business is a dream come true for the lifelong cat lover, who bought the freehold on the huge four-floor building in Mercery Lane with her life savings and help from family members.

The business houses some unusual breeds, including hairless sphynx, fuzzy cornish rex, curly selkirk rex and the sweet but grouchy-faced Himalayan.

House rules will apply when visiting the cats, to keep both visitors and animals safe.

In particular, guests will be asked not to chase or pick up the pets and children under eight will not be permitted to enter.

Mocha, Gus, Binx, Gary, Mayo, Marmalade and Clawdia Wrinkleman are among the moggies waiting to meet customers.

An hour slot spent lounging with the cats will set customers back around £9 and can be booked on the Canterbury Tails website from next week.