A POPULAR bakery and cafe will reopen later this month, after suddenly closing its doors earlier this week.

The Clervaux artisan bakery and cafe, in Darlington's Coniscliffe Road, will undergo renovations before opening under new management.

For the past two years, the cafe has been operated by Olivia's Artisan Bakery, under the Clervaux name.

Now its lease on the cafe has come to an end, the running of the cafe will revert to the Clervaux Trust charity, which offers education and work experience to troubled youngsters.

Mark Snowball, the charity's head of operations and provisions, said the decision had been an amicable one and

stressed that the working relationship between Clervaux and Olivia's would continue in other ways.

The closure of the bakery and cafe came almost five years to the day since it opened.

In that time, it has become a popular destination and built an admirable reputation in Darlington.

When the cafe opened, it was run by Clervaux Trust, but the charity leased it out to Olivia's after running into financial difficulties.

Mr Snowball said: "Olivia's ran it for us, but over the last year or so, our position has changed and the charity is doing really well and in a quite strong position.

"We are now in a position to invest and expand, and part of that is to step back in and run the cafe directly."

Former Clervaux food manager Davey Babooram is returning as head chef.

Mr Snowball added: "We are going to give it a bit of a facelift, it is going to be decorated and we are going to introduce a new seasonal menu.

"We are hoping that as much as 70 per cent of our food will come from fresh produce grown by our students at our eco-farm in Croft, with the rest all organic and locallY-sourced."

The cafe will continue to offer opportunities for Clervaux students to gain work experience.

Mr Snowball said: "The partnership with Olivia's isn't broken – we are still going to be working with them in some capacity, supplying them with some vegetables and they are going to supply us with their bread for the interim period."

Meanwhile, the Clervaux name has disappeared from Hurworth Methodist Church's cafe, the running of which has been assumed by the church once more.

The Coniscliffe Road cafe will open for business shortly.

An exact date has still to be decided on, although an official opening is being planned for September 29.