The owners of a popular deli and bakery in West Belfast thanked customers and staff for their support as they announced plans to close.
Baps Deli & Desserts, on the Stewartstown Road, will close from August 1 amid rising costs. Breaking the news to their loyal customer base, they said it was "with a heavy heart".
In a statement issued through social media, they added: "We have decided to close indefinitely. We will close our doors on the 1st of August we hope too see you all before our final day to say goodbye.
READ MORE: NI takeaways plea for support as body warns of more closures
"Anyone with orders placed we will be in contact with you over next few days to make arrangements. All of our costs have went up over the last few months. It is not cost effective for us to keep going at this time.
"We will review these costs in the near future and if we feel we can make it work again we will reopen. We would like to thank our customers for their support it's been greatly appreciated.
"To our staff, thank you so much for your understanding. You are more to us than staff. You are our friends and will remain so forever."
Responding to the closure announcement, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Takeaway Association called on elected representatives to help the industry, which is seeing increasing pressures daily.
The association, which represents the industry from fast food outlets to coffee shops, knows of over 20 closures across the region in recent days.
"Another takeaway/deli forced to close due to the tidal wave of business running costs," they said.
"We have been informed of over 20 takeaways/cafes closures across Northern Ireland with the last week. Our elected MLA's and government must act now to help our industry or we face hundreds of store closures within the coming months."
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