A NORTH Yorkshire bakery chain says they are determined to keep serving the community as long as they can.

Scarborough-based Cooplands, which has a number of shops in York and has been going for 135 years, has released a statement to say that they aim to continue to keep their neighbourhood shops open, for as long as is safe to do so.

They closed their 51 town and city centre stores on Monday night to focus all attention on neighbourhood shops that serve the local community. They have also closed all 12 of their cafes.

They say they are putting measures in place to safeguard food production and shop staff and all their premises are being delivered to daily with bread, cakes, pasties and sandwich fillings. Cooplands also mentioned that they were looking into ways to deliver to those currently indoors, using their 40 food delivery vans.

Belinda Youngs, CEO, said:  “As we make and deliver all our fresh products daily, this puts us in a good position to be able to keep our shelves stocked, even during these uncertain times. We have increased our production of bread and rolls for our communities. The safety and wellbeing of all our staff are of paramount importance and central to our daily decision making.

“As a food manufacturer and retailer, food hygiene and safety are and have always been of the most upmost importance to us. We have taken every opportunity to reinforce and add to our robust hygiene procedures.”