"Sometimes you have to know when to quit the fight" historic bakery closes after 100 years

An historic town bakery has closed after 100 years - with the current owners saying: "Sometimes you have to know when to quit the fight" amid "skyrocketing" costs.

Williamson's Bakery has been a much loved institution in the Castle area of Northwich for decades and famed for its vanilla slices, pies, sausage rolls and freshly-baked bread.

It was founded by the Williamson family who ran the Cheshire bakery for three generations, before acclaimed foodie entrepreneurs David and Jane Mooney took over the operation 13 years ago.

But the couple baked for the final time at the building on Friday, and posted an emotional post to thank their loyal customers over the years.

They have blamed "ridiculous skyrocketing costs" and a proposed rent hike as the reasons for the closure. But it's not the end of the bakery road for the couple - who have announced a new sandwich shop venture in Knutsford which opened today [Monday].

Sharing an emotional post on Facebook, they said: "As many of you know we have come to the end of the road with our landlady - we have been there over 13 years and like many small businesses we have struggled to survive and this Christmas was particularly tough."

The post added: "Our fantastic team have supported us to the very end and we couldn’t have done it without them. I won’t name them all as I’m already an emotional wreck and blobby eyes are not a good look."

The couple added: "We are really excited to be moving on to a new chapter in our lives - our Knutsford shop is currently undergoing a refurb and a rebrand and after hours of deliberation we came up with The Knutsford Sandwich Co because that’s what it is and that’s what it does!"

The post was met by hundreds of reactions and a huge outpouring of