A popular sandwich shop in Cardiff is closing after six years.
Bomber's Sandwich House on Guildhall Place, near the Principality Stadium, will close it's doors on Friday, March 15 for the final time.
However, the company's second venue at Charles Street in Cardiff city centre will remain open.
In 2017, the original shop won the South Wales Echo Food & Drink award for 'Best Sandwich Bar'.
Now owner Rhys Harris says he has no choice but to close its doors due to rents and business rates.
"That end of town for retail is really dead," he said of Guildhall Place. "It seems to be new cocktail bars, restaurants and more evening trade. There are just no shops there.
"We're finding that shoppers are ending up on the other side of town, near The Hayes and St David's.
"Howells (department store) is reportedly going and Hugh James (solicitors) have moved to the new Central Square development. It's just very hard to get the office staff to come that far."
On Wednesday, signs telling customers the shop was going to close were spotted pinned to walls.
The note said that "several factors" were to blame, and added: "We have tried everything in our power to keep the shop open but in the long run we know it isn't feasible."
Rhys said: "My lease was up and I had to make a choice. My landlord wanted to increase the rent and although it wasn't a big increase, any type of increase is not feasible.
"Cardiff Council don't do anything either in terms of business rates. It's just very tough. I've never had a visit or a call from Cardiff Council.
"They say they want to support the high street and independent businesses but I've never had anything from them. If they're serious about the high street, they should be knocking on doors."
Staff from Guildhall Place will now be moved to Bomber's in Charles Street to help out.
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Despite the bad news, Rhys hopes to open more sandwich shops very soon.
"It was a culmination of rents, rates, and that end of town," Rhys added. "For workers, they need a reason to go down there.
"Our turnover here [at the Charles Street store] is virtually double. It was horrible to put the signs up. That's where Bomber's started.
"It's just regular customers who we've served every day for the last six years - we've got to know them. We've done their weddings and funerals. They are starting to come over here though."
But Rhys says that despite the impending closure, he still hopes to open another Bomber's shop.
"We want a second shop," Rhys added. "We will get one. We want a third shop. It's just finding the right one at the right time.
"We've only got two hours to make money. If it rains, I could lose £800 a day.
"If I can find something, I'll move tomorrow. We want to grow but the most important thing is the rent and rates which are set. I'm absolutely gutted but we are going to carry on growing."
Cardiff Council said that business rates were set by the Welsh Government, and that they only enforced them.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting businesses in Wales. In 2018-19 we are providing around £210m to support businesses and other ratepayers with their non-domestic rates bills.
"These reliefs are available to all eligible ratepayers who meet the criteria and benefit more than three‑quarters of ratepayers in Wales, with more than half of businesses paying no rates at all."
