COFFEE giant Caffe Nero has lost a High Court battle with the district council over whether it can keep its cafe in Epping High Street.

The store has been fighting a rearguard battle to stay in business ever since it opened without planning permission in 2006. The council say there are too many coffee shops in the street and not enough retailers.

And now the High Court has backed an enforcement notice issued by Epping Forest District Council ordering it to close as a cafe.

Shoppers we spoke to in Epping High Street were almost unanimous that the cafe should remain open.

Pat Pound, from Harlow, said: ”I should think the public should speak for themselves. If there’s enough people going there I don’t see why it should close.”

Leonard Ratcliffe, from Theydon Bois, said: “I like the High Street here. It’s got a good mix of shops. It doesn’t need to close.”

High Court judge Justice Proudman backed a previous report by Government planning inspector Lucy Drake which agreed that High Street already had too many non-retail shops.

She warned that allowing Nero to stay could breach town centre policy on keeping a certain percentage of shops for retail.

Shopkeepers we spoke to were divided on the issue.

Heritage Antiques shop assistant John Davies said: “It’ll just be another empty shop. There’s already the video shop closed there and the camera shop up the road is closed. The coffee shop probably attracts people to the town.”

Elysium shop assistant Lauren Barker said: “There are quite a lot of coffee shops in Epping. Nero’s are quite good but it is expensive. It doesn’t really make any difference to me.”

Caffe Nero’s finance director Ben Price said he was disappointed at the decision but not shocked.

He added: “I find it hard to fathom the motivation of the council. No-one’s going to buy that unit now we’re in the middle of the worst financial crisis in 70 years. We get over 2,000 customers a week and I can’t see how it’s good for the High Street not to be there.”

The shop has until May 12 to comply with the enforcement notice.