A branch of Costa Coffee will close this weekend.
The coffee shop in Tadcaster High Street will shut on Sunday at 4pm. It has been trading for 11 years.
It comes amid concerns about the state of the building and the health of the town centre.
One poster on Facebook said: “Costa are closing Tadcaster as the building is crumbling and no one wants spend money on the building.
“Is our Town Council doing anything for the town? If so what? Tadcaster is and has been neglected in many ways, you only have to drive up Commercial Street and there’s a forest growing out of the pavement, in the 50 years I have lived here this is the worse the town has been.”
Kirsty Poskitt, who represents Tadcaster on North Yorkshire Council, explained the situation.
She said: “I know the rumour mill in Tadcaster likes to go into overdrive over the whos, whats and whys, so I wanted to just share some facts.
“The Adil Group run the Costa franchise in Tadcaster. They own and run around 50 Costas across the country.
“It is their responsibility to maintain the building and ensure it meets the standards of the Costa Brand. It’s easy to see why Costa have put pressure on the owners to improve the building and make it safe.
“This is absolutely nothing to do with the brewery or the council, this is a privately owned building with a brand franchise.
“Tadcaster has some wonderful local coffee shops so we won’t be short of a good cup of coffee, but I just want people to remember that behind this big brand were local people who have lost their jobs.
“Debs and the team did everything they could to make their branch have a local feel and they have worked incredibly hard over the years.”
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “We can confirm that our Costa Coffee store on 2 High Street, Tadcaster will close its doors.
“All team members have been offered re-deployment opportunities. The local community can continue to enjoy their favourite Costa coffee at our nearest store on Riverview Court, Wetherby.”
Tadcaster residents expressed their dismay on Facebook. One said: “We are devastated that it is closing. We go every week and love chatting to Deb and the team. It will be sadly missed.”
Another wrote: “Became a weekly family catch up – sad for the employees and the high street… Let’s see what happens longer term as another building goes unwanted.”
