After six years within the sunken St James Barton roundabout, Bearpit Social is to close at the end of this week.

Announcing the closure in a Facebook post, Bearpit Social owner Miriam Delogu said that the decision to close was “heartbreaking”.

Writing to her customers, Miriam said: “You’ve been there with us through it all, pre-regeneration, post-construction site, the good days, the bad days, the horrible days.

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“You have been part of my life, you have been my motivation (trust me you need it to wake up at 6am every day), you’ve been my inspiration to work relentlessly to find a solution to improve this space, you’ve been my drive as I’ve met extraordinary beings doing incredible things.”

Miriam said that to help create the Bearpit as a social place where people could come together was one of her proudest achievements.

But despite the formation of the Bearpit Bristol community interest company aimed at improving the area, it was still a crime and anti-social behaviour hotspot, with Miriam describing a “silent roar of anger… building within me whilst at the same time being crumbled with a sense of helplessness”.

Miriam added: “I want to fully commit to transforming this place into the destination Bristol deserves and I hope you will accept my apology for having to let this go. The safety of our team had to be our top priority.

“We have had some scary times in the last year and I think we would be naive to keep pretending that things aren’t that bad – something that we’ve had to do for far too long.

“Thank you all in your belief and support in me, in Bearpit Social and our vision to creating a safer and more welcoming destination.”

Bearpit Social’s final day will be Saturday, February 24, with Miriam urging customers old and new to come to the Bearpit, help clean it up, and celebrate community and collaboration.