A Belsize Park restaurant has blamed new cycle lanes for forcing its closure after just two years on the high street.

Morfudd Richards, owner of Greenberry Hill in Haverstock Hill, has confirmed to the Ham and High that the restaurant shut down at the end of last month.

While her team “loved being in Belsize Park”, she claimed the venture was made impossible by Camden Council’s new Haverstock Hill cycle lanes.

The restaurant, which first opened in 2022, was intended as the sister site to Greenberry Café - a popular all day dining spot in Primrose Hill for the last 12 years.

But Morfudd said that her hopes for Greenberry Hill were scuppered by repeated cancellations from customers, who claimed they struggled to find nearby parking.

It comes after many of the parking bays along Haverstock Hill were removed by Camden Council to make way for the new cycle route.

Morfudd said: “When you have a fledgling business, you need as much behind you to go the right way.

“I think it was a difficult period to open as it was, because of inflationary costs.

“But I also think the cycling lanes had a massive impact on us, as they have done for all of the businesses in Haverstock Hill.”

The closure of Greenberry Hill comes just more than 12 months after restaurant manager Stefanos Uleri warned that the parking situation in the street was costing businesses customers.  

Cycle lanes were first created in Haverstock Hill two years agoCycle lanes were first created in Haverstock Hill two years ago (Image: Camden Council)

Morfudd has said that despite the setback, Greenberry Café will continue to operate as normal in Primrose Hill.

She added that she understood the “environmental concerns” that motivated the council to install the cycle lanes, but maintains that the scheme they decided on was “ill thought-out”.

She explained: “It’s pretty good in Prince of Wales Road where there’s a cycling lane and it's combined with parking. So why were they not able to think about this?

“It's not going to save my business, but what I’d like to see from it is that lessons can be learnt by the council, to actually say – 'we can do this better than we’ve done'.”

Councillor Adam Harrison has now claimed that MasterCard data shows that dining and retail transactions rose in Haverstock Hill during the trial cycle scheme.

He said that as part of the final permanent scheme, new floating and paid parking bays will be created.

Cllr Harrison added: “Before the trial at Haverstock Hill, cycling to the high street was hardly an option for anyone but the bravest.

“Such changes are, of course, also part of ensuring children can travel to school safely, cutting air pollution that harms our health, and reducing carbon emissions that harm the planet.”