A new Falmouth cafe has been left in real financial difficulty due to not being able to receive any government financial help during the coronavirus pandemic.

The cafe, The Four-Teas Tea Room and Event Space, opened for business seven weeks ago and was serving freshly cooked meals in a 1940's themed setting.

Owner Lynda set up the business after being left money in a very close relative's will, with the hope to help the community with jobs and a place to remember a time of WW2.

Angie, volunteer at The Four-Teas Tea Room, said:

"This is a tragic time."

The decision was made, two days before the government called for bars, restaurants and cafes to close, that the Tearoom would close temporarily.

Due to the business being so new, they were not able to provide the needed documentation to grant any financial aid which has been offered by the government.

Angie told Nub News:

"We feel the government made a critical mistake regarding food businesses, by encouraging people to stay away from cafes and restaurants, but not telling them to close.

"We were paying staff all day to do absolutely nothing, which with a new business isn't good business sense, especially as finances are always tight on a new startup.

"We asked our staff to bear with us and tried to keep them informed as much as possible about what was happening."

Like many other restaurants and cafes in Falmouth - they considered opening their business as a takeaway only establishment.

"We were going to reopen as a takeaway but after speaking with our accountant, he advised us it made better financial sense to not do this, so we decided against it.

"Things had been getting quiet for at least a week before people were told not to come, so we were getting concerned by then anyway."

With heavy hearts, Four Teas had to serve their staff redundancy as they were not able to support them without the use of government's help.

It was quickly after this that all non-essential shops were to close immediately. This meant that their other business, Bygone Days Trading Co, was to close as well.

This has left Lynda, owner of Four Teas Tea Room and Event Space, without any income and waiting in line for UC benefit as self-employed.

Both Lynda and Angie are at higher risk during this pandemic due to pre-existing health conditions, which means they are having to be extra careful with everything they do.

The cafe was also space for people to hire for events, as these have been cancelled, this is another expense that is put on the business.

Angie said:

"We have had to try and reimburse those who have paid for events or hiring of our events room but this has not always been possible due to a lack of income.

"For some we may have to reimburse when we are back in business."

Angie is wishing for better times in the future:

"We hope to reemploy most of our staff and we really hope to be back in business as soon as possible after this.

"For now, all we really hope is people stay safe and well and think of coming back to support us when we reopen.

"We fully admire and thank all those individuals working hard and taking risks to keep us all safe.

"We hope to continue our current scheme to support many groups such as Fire, Police, Ambulance, Coastguards and all emergency services including the NHS workers, by offering these groups a 10% discount on their food orders in the Tearoom as a thank you.

"Any of these members who are on duty and are needing food quickly can also jump the queue and get served first.

"We hope to be back soon, as long as our landlord continues to support us."