Hitchin looks set to host the first "cat cafe" in Hertfordshire as "Meow Lounge Hitchin" released an Instagram teaser promising to be "coming soon".

It's going next to Twisted Fabric, in Hitchin Arcade.

The first cat cafe in the UK opened in London back in 2014 and globally cat cafes trace their origin back to one opening in Taiwan back in 1998.

Often the cafes will not admit children under the age of 12 as part of their cat welfare policies, others support the rehousing or adoption of cats.

In a report released back in 2016, the RSPCA stated their concern about the welfare implications for cats in cafes "due primarily to the enforced proximity to other cats within a limited space and the frequent presence of – and potential handling by – unfamiliar visitors".