A MUCH-LOVED cafe in the heart of Aberdour is set to close its doors after struggling to find staff.

McTaggart's, on the village's High Street, have announced that they will welcome their final customers at the end of this month.

The news was met with disappointment from customers – with more than 200 taking to social media to express their well-wishes – with co-owner John McTaggart saying they have been the reason he and his wife, Lis, have enjoyed the venture so much.

"We have been so lucky with customers," he told the Press.

"They are one of the main reasons we have enjoyed it so much, people make the cafe what it is.

"We have been open since March 2013 and we have never been empty, we always said that about the cafe, it is much-needed in this part of Fife."

While John is looking forward to some downtime, he says that the decision, which was mutual between the owners and remaining staff members, has not "hit home" yet.

It came after a series of meetings with their employees, who believed the outcome was the only viable route to take.

The 59-year-old said that the business had been short-staffed for a while after losing two of their chefs and, with five core members of staff needed to run the cafe, there was no way to keep going.

Their three full-time workers will be made redundant.

"It was very mutual," he added.

"We have always been a close team, you need to have that, we understood where the staff were coming from.

"Maybe this time next year we would have thought about it for ourselves.

"This time last week I didn't see it coming, I thought we would see our way through."

And John has high hopes for whoever takes over the building, believing the business, which can hold around 28 covers, could still succeed as a cafe, or a different type of outlet.

"We need somewhere open a bit more at night," he said.

"I think there is a market for that, we were never able to do it for staffing, but it is a nice venue."

The cafe will close on August 28 and the couple are urging people to visit and say goodbye while they still can.