A £20 million investment in a nearby shopping centre was not enough to save one restaurant in Mere Green.

Fleet Street Kitchen, in Belwell Lane, is located a stone's throw from the new Mulberry Walk development of shops and cafés.

But with the new venues beginning to compete for locals' hard-earned cash the restaurant has closed.

Its owners say it will not be re-opening as the venture was not "financially viable", reports the Sutton Coldfield Observer.

Among the new competition are Bistrot Pierre, which opened on March 24, and Renato Lounge, which welcomed its first customers in January.

Fleet Street Kitchen bar and restaurant in Mere Green (opened summer 2016)
Fleet Street Kitchen in Mere Green.
Fleet Street Kitchen in Mere Green.

A staff member told the Birmingham Mail's sister title: "Financially it wasn't working. It closed about a week ago. Whether it opens as something else, we don't know."

The site near Waitrose has seen a number of other bars and restaurants close.

It had once been home to Flints wine bar before its closure. Après moved from its location by the Sainsbury's car park - now the Mare Pool pub - to the building in 2011.

It closed on June 20 last year before being replaced by Fleet Street Kitchen.

Fleet Street Kitchen bar and restaurant in Mere Green (opened summer 2016)
Fleet Street Kitchen bar and restaurant in Mere Green (opened summer 2016)

The restaurant was part of the same Town and Country Inns plc group as Après, which went in to administration in November last year.

However, the bars and restaurant chain, which included two Après bars in Birmingham and Cheltenham, two Fleet Street Kitchens in Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield, and the Mechu Bar and Grill Club, in Summer Row, Birmingham, was bought out of administration by a newly formed company.

The owners have since announced the closure of Mechu as well as the Cheltenham bar.