Heartlands cafe in Pool closes its doors for the last time

Charlotte Dey said that staff and locals were "devastated"

The cafe at Heartlands closed on Sunday, after the visitor attraction held its final event.

The £35m facility in the centre of a former mining area in Pool, Cornwall, announced its imminent closure on 5 January, with about 40 staff affected.

The Heartlands Trust charity, which runs the facility, will cease operating on Wednesday.

Charlotte Dey, on her last day working in the Red River Cafe, said: "Everyone's devastated.

"All our locals are emotional at the moment, they've been coming here for years.

"It's a shock to everyone, not just the staff," she said.

Heartlands announced its imminent closure on January 5

Staff pleaded for another month's employment, but the charity said that it could not cover its operating costs with rising bills and falling income.

The last event in the conference centre was the Healing Light festival, its 32nd visit since 2013.

The cafe, soft play, conference centre and meeting rooms will officially close on Wednesday and the park, gardens, shops and offices are to remain open, the council has said.

David Sillifant, chair of trustees of the Heartlands Trust, said: "The council has said it'll keep the gardens, the children's playground and the formal gardens open to the public but we're still awaiting details of how that will happen and I believe the tenants are still awaiting details from the council of how they'll be looked after, after Wednesday."

Trustees are meeting with the council on Monday to discuss what the future of the site holds.