A seafront cafe owner criticised for remaining open over the weekend has launched a fierce defence of his business.

Makcari’s in Central Parade, Herne Bay, came under fire after photographs appearing to show it serving customers from its ice cream hatch circulated online.

This sparked an angry response on social media, as users questioned whether it should continue to operate during the coronavirus crisis.

But Hassan Hassan, who runs the premises with his brother, says it was only open for home deliveries and take aways.

“People never cease to amaze me, inciting hatred, calling names, demanding we be closed down, making personal insults,” he said.

“On Saturday afternoon a member of the public walked in yelling abuse and threatening violence and criminal damage.

“This incident was reported to the police immediately and, with their full knowledge, the decision to lock the doors and open the window as a customer service point was made.

“It must be made clear that we were not open to sell ice cream, as a lot of people assumed.”

Social media user Simon Cook accused the business of putting “wealth before health”, while Sarah Bailie remarked that it was “unbelievable”.

Canterbury City Council spokesman Rob Davies says the authority received “scores of messages” over the weekend about businesses along the seafront selling products through windows.

But he stressed: “This activity is not illegal as the law currently stands.

“Businesses are allowed to sell products for takeaway or home delivery, ensuring they have put measures in place to allow for social distancing, so we are unable to take any direct action.

“We continue to investigate reports from the public about food premises not sticking to the new regulations.

“The majority of those complaints have been about premises offering food and drink to take away and all have been operating within the rules even if the public feels those rules should be tighter.”

This comes after Makcari’s announced on Instagram on Friday that its ice cream counter would be open over the weekend, which it said was “set to be a scorcher”.

Despite reminding customers to keep two metres apart, the post suggested they visit the eatery while out for their “daily exercise”.

It was promptly deleted and an apology was issued by Mr Hassan, who described it as “inappropriate in these sensitive times”.

The owner says the post had been automatically scheduled about a fortnight ago by a person he employs to maintain his online sites.

“Once it came to my attention, I instantly took this post down,” he said.

“It was not my intention to encourage anyone, be it locals or visitors, down to the seafront.

“It was set 14 days in advance. People were being extremely rude online saying it can’t be true.

“The reason why it is true is because, when it was written, we were already in a stay-at-home situation and we’ve got apps on our phones that predict the weather.”

In the wake of this, Mr Hassan has decided to close the cafe over the bank holiday weekend.

He says he has given away more than 500 free meals to NHS and emergency service staff.

However, he states that the business, which has long been a fixture on the seafront, has been running at a “substantial loss” since the outbreak of Covid-19.

He added: “If this continues for another few months, will Makcari’s still be around? Possibly not.

“But we will go down with our heads held high, knowing we have helped during these unprecedented times.”

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