A popular city centre cafe will close tomorrow (Friday) with the owners saying high rent and rates and their own dedication to quality food meant they could not make a decent living.

Sisters Sarah Lighton and Claire Williamson opened Mrs Jones' Kitchen in Palace Street in May 2013, affectionately naming it after their grandmother and their love of her home cooking.

But tomorrow, they will be serving customers for the last time after taking the sad decision to give up on their dream.

Sarah said: "We haven't gone bust but the fact is that high rents and the cost of doing things the way we do by making everything fresh is very expensive.

"It was our aim from the start to offer something a little different and better quality and we gave it our best shot.

"But although we invested a lot in the business and are often very busy, we just can't make it work.

"We are both working up to 60 hours a week and really just ticking over rather than earning a decent living from it.

"We want to offer something different from the big chains. But it’s only the big chains that can afford to make it work" - Claire Williamson

"I guess if we operated like some of the big chains with bought-in food and microwaves, we could make more money, but that is never what we wanted the business to be about.

"The rent we pay to the Dean and Chapter is pretty steep and that is always going to be a factor for small independents like us."

In June, sister Claire warned that high overheads and the proliferation of High Street chain cafes was putting pressure on the business.

She said: "We want to offer something different from the big chains. But it’s only the big chains that can afford to make it work.

"We are seriously thinking of selling up. The rents and rates are so high and what might help is if the council regulates the numbers of outlets in a specific area.

"There’s a sense of inevitability that independent businesses like ours won’t be able to survive."

Sarah said: "We are most sad to have to say goodbye to our many loyal customers and the lovely friends we have made since we opened."

She said another food outlet would be opening up in the premises in the near future.