A Fife cafe owner says she may have to cut staff hours as the poor summer weather hits ice cream sales.
Nova Gamble, who runs the Sands cafe in Aberdour, says business has been quieter than usual during the school summer holidays.
It comes as cooler and wetter weather has put people off flocking to the kingdom’s coastal towns and beaches.
Nova says she is worried about the rest of the summer if things do not improve.
Sands cafe in Aberdour faces cutting staff hours after summer downturn
Speaking to Kingdom FM, she said: “We always bring on extra staff during the summer when we expect it to be a lot busier, but it just hasn’t happened this year.
“You really don’t want to cut their hours, and we are keeping them on because we keep hoping the weather will turn, but it isn’t looking too good at the moment.
“If it doesn’t improve we’ll have to cut down staff hours because we’d not be able to pay the wages.
“We never want to do that as we want to retain full-time staff through the winter.
“But running a business, we need to make sure we have enough money to pay them.
“We make money during the summer to keep us going through the winter.
“Obviously, things like ice cream sales drop when it gets colder, so it’s an important time of year for us.”
Nova says other seasonal businesses she has spoken to are experiencing a similar downturn.
She is now hoping for an improvement to coincide with a rise in English visitors during the holidays south of the border.
She added: “The English schools are still on holiday until September, and they do come up here to stay, so if the weather does improve for August and the start of September, we still have a chance to have a decent summer.
“I just hope it does get a bit better.”
The Met Office forecast for Aberdour shows temperatures will hit 20°C at times over the next week with a mix of sunny spells and light rain showers.
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