ANOTHER independent restaurant in Highbury has announced its closure this week as businesses in the area struggle to deal with rising costs.

Prawn on the Lawn, in St Paul’s Road, confirmed via an online post they will be leaving the area after 13 years serving seafood to the Highbury community.

In a post online, they said that the decision had been “difficult” but that they wanted to celebrate their time in the borough.

It comes after Malaysian restaurant Sambal Shiok, in Holloway Road, also announced its shock closure last month, citing 20 per cent VAT rates, rising overheads and the cost of living crisis as determining factors.

Businesses across the borough expressed anxiety over the sustainability of running an independent business in Islington, where rental rates may be higher than other areas of London. Many of them told the Tribune that since Covid, things had not felt the same as the public is less able to spend money in restaurants.

Prawn on the Lawn was run by Rick and Katie Toogood and first opened in 2013. They also have three restaurants under the same name in Cornwall, which they said will continue to be open.