Chippenham's Jolly's cafe supporters raise £5,000 to help save it

A Chippenham cafe has been saved from closure after customers raised more than £5,000 to help it pay its energy bill.

Irish cafe Jolly's was hit with a £15,000 bill from British Gas, "out of the blue".

Owner Nicola Boyd told BBC Wiltshire the company would only give her a maximum of 18 months to clear the debt.

British Gas has been approached for comment.

"They said they weren't charging me enough for a year, that was the explanation," Ms Boyd said.

Multiple calls to both the firm and Citizens Advice failed the resolve the problem.

So, in a bid to buy herself more time, Ms Boyd posted a plea to her customers on Facebook to visit as much as possible.

"If you people of Chippenham and Wiltshire want us to stay please visit us. It's totally in your hands," she wrote.

Ms Boyd told them she had "chosen to fight to the end," adding: "I know then I've done more than my best to save my precious business."

She said she had been "completely overwhelmed" when a customer set up a GoFundMe page that received more than £5,000 in donations in just five days.

"I never expected it. It's like a miracle, it really is," she said.

Asked what she would say to the customers who supported her, Ms Boyd said: "I would just say 'I never expected it, never ever'. I never thought we had that much support.

"They're just amazing. I always new that Chippenham was amazing anyway, but the way that people have rallied round, it is just beyond what could ever be expected."

She added: "We've been really busy, long may it continued. We're all saved for now. Saved for Christmas."

Ms Boyd also thanked Michelle Donelan, Conservative MP for Chippenham, for vowing to take up the issue with British Gas.

This report was based on an interview carried out by Karen Gardner for BBC Radio Wiltshire

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