Black Sheep Coffee 'probably not coming soon', joke sign says as plans for Holland and Barrett shop submitted for empty Chichester shop

Signs for the Black Sheep Coffee cafe first appeared in July last year, just months after previous owners Clinton’s Cards closed down. The signage promised the new quirky cafe, which has outlets across the UK, would be ‘coming soon’, but, over a year later, no progress has been made and Black Sheep Coffee has removed the premises from its listed locations.

Now, it looks as though plans for the cafe have fallen through entirely, after health store Holland and Barrett submitted an application for new signage and a minor interior refit to Chichester District Council.

Holland and Barrett already operates a branch on North Street but it is not yet clear whether approval of these plans will result in its closure.

“The existing shopfront will remain with new style signage. Holland & Barrett signage to be installed to replace the existing infill panels,” the design and access statement says.

The news comes after one Chichester resident, amused by the long empty site and the coffee chain’s signage, stuck a cheeky sign on the shop window. “Missing: Black sheep coffee,” it reads. “Probably not coming soon.”

It seems the culprit – who goes by the name of ‘the Chichester Anti-Recreation Partnership’ on Facebook – is responsible for several tongue in cheek signs throughout the city, including one which, ironically, reads ‘no unauthorised signs’.

The prankster has now made national headlines, earning a mention from BBC radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine as of October 14, hot off the heels of a BBC report in which the unnamed prankster describes his desire to introduce some levity to the town centre.