After an unsuccessful bid to renew his lease with the States, Fermain cafe's Belmiro de Freitas says he will not work in tourism again.

Belmiro de Freitas told Island FM he was informed of his unsuccessful bid by phone at 4pm yesterday (16 September).

This was just hours before the media were allowed to go public with the news, which was embargoed until today.

Read: Guernsey's Fermain beach kiosk gets a new owner

The new tenants will be the current owners of the St Peter Port cafes Coco and Lola, whose application promises sun loungers, an app for people on the beach to order food and an opportunity to hire the building for private parties.

Belmiro de Freitas and his partner have run the award winning cafe for 23 years. He says he will close early, rather than continue into October:

"I'll stay until the end of September. I have a huge amount of work to do here. We've had 23 seasons, so there's a lot to clear out."

"But we'll carry on working. We're here to serve people. There are a lot of tourists and people passing by."

Talking of the bid, he said he "could not control the decision" made by the States Property Unit and a member of Watts and Co, the agent used by the States to market the property in the spring of this year.

They said part of the reason for putting the lease out to tender was that certain improvements to the building which were promised by Mr de Freitas had not been carried out. If they had, there had been an opportunity to extend the lease to him until 2038.

When the tender was announced, a petition was started to try to keep Mr de Freitas as the tenant. It attracted 2,400 signatures.

"The customers are more upset than me. It's a business decision."

Mr de Freitas has decided he will not carry on in the hospitality sector:

"We're going to have a break and see what happens. But the hospitality industry, that's it for me. I'm done, I'm getting older."

"It is a shame, but that is the way it is and I hope all the best for the new people coming in."