Kirkcaldy cafe owner's pledge as he is ordered to remove gazebos and seats

Mike Lowe, co-owner of Cupcake Coffee Box in the town’s High Street, had erected the three structures outside his business to allow his most vulnerable customers to have a socially distanced chat with their coffee.

However, following complaints from members of the public, Mike was instructed by trading standards to take them down.

He said: “The gazebos had sections so the seating was socially distanced. I had three of them up, all with sides on them, and two seats in each one, but trading standards had four complaints from members of the public so I had to remove them.

"Admittedly the regulations state you must buy a coffee and move on but my argument was that I have a lot of customers who don’t have pals they can go for a walk with.

"They have people they know from the coffee shop so they were using the gazebos to sit socially distanced and have a 20-minute chat before moving on, just to have a bit of interaction. It’s a shame - it really is.

"But at the end of the day legislation is legislation."

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Mike, who has had a lot of support from customers on the coffee shop’s Facebook page following the ruling, continued: “I have one customer who is 82 who comes down every day and sits.

"He has a coffee and a chat but when the gazebos were removed that was it. He really struggled during the first lockdown so I gave him a job so he has some interaction.

“It is people like him who are really desperate – he was telling me that one of his elderly friends had said to him that people who have passed on are in a better place, which is terrible.”

But he said if he has customers feeling isolated he will happily take a drink along to them and have a socially distanced chat with them.

“I have also had customers who said they are also happy to do this to help anyone who is struggling.

"There is a lot of community spirit there which is nice,” he added.

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