STARBUCKS is to close three cafes on Oxford Street and two on the King’s Road, as new government figures showed that Britain is deeper in double-dip recession than first thought.

The world famous coffee shop chain is often seen as a weather vane for the high street and, though Starbucks says it is to open new cafes at other sites in the coming year, the closure of such high profile outlets is likely to set alarm bells ringing.

“We regularly review our store portfolio, and as a result we are continuously marketing a number of sites while simultaneously looking for new locations,” a Starbucks spokesperson told the British Baker website.

Starbucks is currently in the middle of a revamp of its 750+ British cafes in the hope of making good the £33 million loss it suffered in the UK last year.

But there might be a bitter taste to all that investment if people don’t have the cash to buy cappuccinos and muffins.

Revised figures issued today from the Office of National Statistics show that Britain is deeper into a slump than many experts thought. Instead of contracting by 0.2% in the first quarter of this year, the UK economy actually shrank by 0.3%.

PS – That is a photo of an Oxford Street Starbucks, but we’re not saying it’s one of those that is to close.