A Nottingham cafe will be closed this week for a refurbishment following a flood. The White Rabbit Teahouse suffered water damage in the kitchen a few weeks ago.
The tea room, off Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, is normally closed Monday and Tuesday anyway but it will remained closed until Saturday, May 20 while the work is being carried out. Owner Frances Russell said: "People might come in and think it looks the same but we're just having a freshen up because we got flooded. We needed to have a new floor put down in the kitchen, so we thought it would be an opportunity to freshen it up for summer.
"Water came in from student lets above us. They'd fiddled with the boiler and it lost pressure and it ended up with water pouring out of the back of the building and there being so much water that it came in through our wall. We're having a new floor and all repainted everywhere.
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"Sometimes it's finding the right opportunity to do it, you don't want to do it over a busy period. It's quite expensive to close for a week and repaint as you obviously pay for the work to be done and you're not open taking money, it's like a double hit. But I hope it looks nice and fresh and people appreciate it when they come in."
Since the teahouse is hidden away in St John's Arcade, linking Bridlesmith Gate and Fletcher Gate, it's not always on the radar, said Frances. She said: "It is quieter that end of town and with Broadmarsh being closed - I think that's really affecting the businesses down there and it's a real shame that's happened.
"We've been there for about 10 years now. The weekends are always busy and the week is quieter but I hope it picks up a little bit and over summer we see more people coming back out.
"Even now I do get some customers popping up and saying 'we haven't really been into town since coronavirus>Covid' even now. It makes me sad that people don't come into town anymore. I do think it's important to come into the city centre and support the shops if people can. I really hope better times are coming."
The White Rabbit also has a tea room in Tudor Square, West Bridgford, which like the city centre cafe specialises in mouth-watering cakes and afternoon teas.
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