The Old Station Café in Longridge reaches the end of the line

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A cherished community café has announced its plans for closure as the owners move on to new opportunities.

The Old Station Café in Longridge will be closing its doors after four years of serving the local community and their four-legged friends.

Situated in the historic Station Building on Berry Lane, the café changed ownership in 2022.

Read more: Former pub between Longridge and Grimsargh could become three homes

Champion dancers, Elissia Whitter and Callam Thomson took over, running it alongside their other business, Precision Dance Academy.

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Callam told Blog Preston: “We’ve taken it as far as we can, and we feel like it can go further than what we can do.

“A lot of the customers look at us like relatives, some of them don’t have kids, or some do, and their kids live elsewhere, so they look at us like adopted family. We feel the same.”

The Old Station Café in Longridge
The Old Station Café in Longridge

They took to Facebook to announce the news saying the decision was made after ‘new opportunities’ have come up that they feel they must take.

The response was a positive one, while many said they would be missed, most wished them luck for the future.

The café has played an active part of the community, sponsoring ‘Strictly Come Longridge’, a local dance competition which raised £15,000 for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation last year.

The couple have expressed their interest in renewing the charity event for another year and finding a way to continue their journey in the hospitality industry there.

Callam said: “A lot of people have told us that if you’re going to do it, you’re young and you’ve got the chance to now.”

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