TESCO'S cafe in Ledbury will close for good on Sunday, January 27 to create more retail space for Polish food and other items.

The Ledbury area is now home to many workers from Eastern Europe, many of whom work in the soft fruit industry.

The supermarket giant has taken the decision to shut the cafe to respond to changing requirements.

Tesco spokesman Adam Fisher said: "Some people do use the cafe, but we have to balance that with the changing needs of retail."

He said the closure of the cafe would be a "better use of space" and he added: "There will only be a small selection of Polish food available."

The new retail area will also sell promotional items, gifts, greeting cards, DVDs and stationary.

Neville Meredith, Herefordshire Council's race equality development officer fears that the loss of the cafe will remove a valuable social meeting place for people of all backgrounds, including workers from Eastern Europe.

He recognised Tesco's right to seek profits, but added: "It is my personal view that there are few places where people can get together and mix, across the generations, nationalities and social classes.

"The closure of the cafe has the potential to be counterproductive in the case of social cohesion."

The cafe is noticeable a meeting place for Ledbury's workers from overseas, especially during the summer months, and its full English breakfasts are popular with elderly Ledbury residents and young families alike.

Concerned that the cafe is to close, disgruntled customer Terry Fleetwood of St Katherine's Walk said: "Give us eggs and bacon, not unreadable labels on cans!"

Traditional ingredients in Polish cuisine include sauerkraut, dried mushrooms, sour cream and spicy sausages.

Poles also have a sweet tooth and favoured titbits include faworki, which are pastry twisters; paczki, which are doughnuts and makowiec, which is sweet poppy cake.

Tesco's have not given details of which Polish foodstuffs will be on sale in its Ledbury store.