Owners of a family-run café say plans to take away their outside seating will make them lose business.

The Ivy Coffee House in Maidstone has spent more than £100 on an al fresco set up, only to find that Kent County Council (KCC) plan to remove it to bring back more loading bays.

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The independent coffee shop, in Earl Street, has been open since May and serves a variety of freshly-made, seasonal meals and home-made cakes and baked goodies.

Recently the family upgraded the outside of the café with a flowerbed and sheltered outdoor seating.

Cora Dunne, manager and daughter of owners Tina and Douglas Dunne, says they did not receive notice of the plans, but were visited by someone from the council.

“Last week we had a representative come in who told us we would need to remove everything outside,” she said.

“They said they tried to take the parklet away the week before but saw that we had set up an outdoor seating area.

“We haven’t been told a specific date, but they have said we will need to clear it by the end of the month.”

KCC installed parklets along Earl Street during the Covid pandemic to help businesses expand their seating space and allow people to socially distance, but the authority says the measures were only ever meant to be temporary.

At the time they were criticised by disabled shoppers, who lost out on parking spaces, and businesses who said they made deliveries more difficult.

But Cora, 23, says the decision to remove their outside seating now will cause the family to suffer losses, and that they fear for the future.

“Being an independent, it really makes us worried for the autumn and winter months,” she explained.

“The eight seats we have are a third of our seating.”

“Taking this away will impact customers who have pushchairs, or need accessible seating.”

She added: “People love having a coffee and looking out of our big window – instead now they will just see vans, cars and lorries.

“Having a big lorry parked outside our shop not only is unattractive, but also blocks our café from view of potential customers walking past.”

Cora says the family have invested around £150 in the outdoor seating and flowerbed.

'It was our family’s dream to open a local coffee shop, and we need all the support possible from the local council and community to keep our doors open to the public'

She said: “Some people after the pandemic prefer to sit outside. We are a small café, so it’s nice to have the option and space.”

Earl Street currently has three loading bays, one of them being in front of Ivy Coffee House.

The loading bay by the café is still usable, however the parklet takes up just less than half of the space.

The road also has a disabled bay and a motorbike space.

“During Covid the council helped local businesses a lot, but this was only a temporary measure,” Cora said.

“It was our family’s dream to open a local coffee shop, and we need all the support possible from the local council and community to keep our doors open to the public.

“I did ask if we could appeal against the plan, but we are unable to.

“Sadly we are just going to have to make use of the space while we can.”

A KCC spokesman said: “The parklet was a temporary measure brought in during the early stages of the pandemic to increase facilities outside.

“Officers have liaised with businesses in Earl Street to advise that they will be reinstating the loading the bay in the coming weeks, to how it was pre-Covid.”