SEVERAL towns across Cornwall have been left without a Costa Coffee outlet after they suddenly closed.

It comes after the coffee giant terminated its franchise agreement with Kernow Koffi, which ran several high street stores under the brand name in Cornwall.

A spokesperson for Costa Coffee said that the termination of the franchise agreement with Kernow Koffi was due to a ‘breach’ by the operator.

It confirmed that the branches were closed as a result of this ‘breach’, although it has not specified what the breach that led to the termination of the agreement was.

Among the Costa Coffee outlets that have been closed are stores on Fore Street in Bodmin, Molesworth Street in Wadebridge, Belle Vue in Bude, and Trelowarren Street in Camborne.

All of the outlets are marked on both Google and the Costa website as being ‘temporarily closed’ and have been hidden from view on the store locator.

Costa outlets that are not operated by Kernow Koffi are unaffected by the closure.

This includes stores at the Cornish Gateway services, St Austell, Launceston, Liskeard, Saltash, Truro, Falmouth and Camborne Tolvaddon.

At the Bodmin store, a handwritten sign on the door states: “Sorry, store closed due to technical fault. Thanks for understanding.”

It is understood that staff at the affected stores have been put on ‘temporary layoff’ since the closure of the stores.

A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “Following a breach of our franchise agreement, we have taken the difficult decision to terminate our franchise agreement with the franchise partner, resulting in the closure of this store.

“Customers can find their nearest Costa Coffee using our store locator.”