Hitchin has welcomed more new additions to its ever-growing number of tea rooms.

With the arrival of duTea in Bridge Street and The Taste in Bancroft, there are now an estimated 82 establishments in the town where customers can order tea and coffee – with another vintage tea rooms opening in Bancroft soon.

Town centre manager Keith Hoskins said: “The High Street is changing. If people continue to choose to shop over the internet then we may well have to accept a more service-based town, and adjust accordingly.

“However, the tea-shops do bring a vibrancy to the community as they are sociable places people visit on a regular basis.

“The great thing about Hitchin is even with the 82 places we counted in the area of Hitchin BID we still have a strong retail base.

“It’s a particularly exciting time if you look at Hermitage Road. You can see it has expanded to include not only tea rooms but businesses offering audiio, carpets, interiors and computers – it’s become a place people visit to purchase home items.”

Spiro Nicholas from duTea said: “We have been looking at opening a new shop for a while but once we ventured into Hitchin for the first time I knew it was the place to be because everyone is friendly and accommodating.

“We are a tea room dedicated to high grade tea with a wide range of loose leaf teas. This is more of a passion than a return on investment but we are in it for the long term.”

Charlton Vincent, owner of newly opened The Taste, said: “I believe there was a gap in the market in terms of mid-range self-service eateries offering great food, and great service at a great price. I am Hitchin born and bred and this is a great town.”

It has also been confirmed kitchen chain Magnet will open a store in early December on the corner of Hermitage Road and Bancroft.

What do you think? Are there too many tea rooms in Hitchin? Email your views to news@thecomet.net