Colchester's Jenkins Café temporarily closes for roof repairs

Jenkins Café and Restaurant, in St John’s Street, Colchester, has announced its temporary closure, following a dramatic emergency incident back in June.

Five fire crews rushed to the scene of an inferno shortly before 5am after a passer-by spotted smoke billowing out of a commercial building.

Upon arrival, firefighters from Colchester, Wivenhoe, Coggeshall and Chelmsford confirmed the blaze was affecting Jenkins Café and its roof.

It had also spread to a neighbouring convenience store and fears were raised over how quickly the structure’s historic wooden beams could ignite.

The fire was eventually extinguished by 2pm – the point at which the road was also reopened to the public - but the roof of Jenkins Café’s was left ruined.

Nasuh Kahraman, owner of the café since 2010, has now made the difficult decision to shut the eatery while repairs are carried out on the roof.

He said: “Dear friends and customers, due to the fire damaged roof we have had to temporarily close.

“As soon as the roof has been repaired we will be re-opening – in approximately six months - see you all soon.

“If you would like to visit us at our Station Café in Harwich we would love to see you.”

The latest incident involving Jenkins Cafe’s roof comes after it was also destroyed back in March 2021 as a result of heavy winds.

Overnight gales had caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage and Essex Police even had to install a cordon around the premises to keep the public at a safe.

Similar to the most recent closure, Mr Kahraman had to shut the café so repairs could be made to the building’s roof, before reopening two months later.

Speaking at the time, M said: “Our building is just a restaurant with a stock room upstairs so luckily no-one lives here – it was a bit of a lucky escape to be honest.

“I have seen CCTV from when the roof tiles fell and you can see one fly off in to the street. If it had happened 20 seconds later there was someone walking past.”