South Shields' The Clifton Hotel and Coffee Shop named among top 20 in the country

The Clifton Hotel and Coffee Shop was among venues opening pavement cafes to provide outdoor hospitality from April 12.

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A popular South Shields coffee shop has been named among the best coffee shops in the country.

The Clifton Hotel and Coffee Shop in South Shields is named in the list of the top 20 coffee shops in the UK, put together by using research by retailer Coffee Friend.

The business, in Ocean Road, sits with some impressive company on the list, including Bettys Tea Room in Harrogate.

The Origami Cafe in Alnwick was the only other North East venue to make the cut.Coffee Friend said the list had been put together by crunching data from reviewer site TripAdvisor.The Clifton Coffee Shop scored a 4.5/5 rating with 228 ‘Excellent’ ratings of 294 reviews on the site – appearing to rank above Bettys.

The research looked at the highest-rated coffee shops across the UK with more than 100 reviews, taking ‘Excellent’, ‘Terrible’ and overall ratings into account.Aurimas Vainauskas, CEO of Coffee Friend, said: “The UK is now a nation of coffee lovers and with the country returning to more normal times, we’re helping the people of Britain find the best cafes in the best places.“Our research has looked at the highest rated cafes across the country and found some of the better known, and lesser known, joints to grab a favourite drink and a bite to eat.”

Owned by Scott and Liz Carlucci, The Clifton recently expanded and is hoping to benefit from an increase in ‘staycation’ visitors.

But the coffee shop is also a favourite with locals, who stop in for cuppas, lunches and afternoon teas.

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