Sad news as popular Northampton cafe closes its doors for the final time

A much-loved cafe near Northampton closed its doors on Friday...but the owners say it might not be the final chapter.

Scoffers cafe, based at the Nene Valley services in Ecton, shut for the final time this week. The family business, launched by Alfie Hilyard in 1999, is now run by his son Tom and daughter-in-law Emily.

In a statement on their Facebook page, the owners said it was an end of an era.

"After reviewing our business It's with great regret we will be closing this site permanently and look to reopen in a new location sometime in the near future," the statement said.

"We are absolutely gutted our family business has been around for almost 20 years and now it's sadly time to say goodbye to you all (for now)...

"We would like to take this final opportunity to thank our staff and each and every one of you for supporting us over the years we couldn't have done it without you .

"We have met some amazing people along the way whom we will miss greatly.

"We hope to see you all again really soon so look out for updates on our page about any new developments," the owners said.

Last year, the cafe was crowned the Northampton Chronicle & Echo Cafe of the Year.

Speaking at the time, Tom said: “We have always based ourselves on giving good quality food with first-class customer service... and nice big portions