Our article about an unassuming but highly rated café closing down was one of our most read yesterday, with many commenting on the state of independent shops and eateries on the high street.

No Place Like Home on High Street in Lowestoft was considered by many to be one of the town's hidden gems with a 95pc Excellent rating from 168 reviews on TripAdvisor.

MORE: Town's highest rated café closes down

Some readers were complementary of its food and staff and expressed disappointment at the news of its closure.

Glenn Gooderham said: 'What a shame… Some lovely cakes and always a warm welcome.'

Donna Smith said: '[The owner] is a lovely lady as well. She was kind enough to collect socks for the homeless this year. Sad to see it close.'

Rachel English commented: 'Such a shame. We went in and had lovely tea and cake during the Heritage weekends.'

Trying to identify why No Place Like Home seems to have been overlooked by many, Mark Flack said: 'Maybe people haven't heard of it because they don't look at local businesses as opposed to well known multi-chain outlets.'

Lisa Moon said: 'It's a shame no one has heard of it…lots of people are unaware of the hidden gems in this town.'

Russell Jones hinted at a wider problem facing local businesses, saying: 'Another business gone in Lowestoft even with excellent reviews.'

'I did go in there once a few years back and was talking to the owner who was friendly enough,' he continued. 'I think it was only open on certain days...I did think at the time will it survive? A lot of people don't go into Lowestoft much these days and if they do they don't go up that end of town.'

Paul Bush echoed concern that local businesses were up against an unforgiving climate.

He said: 'High TripAdvisor ratings are all jolly nice, but in this harsh economic climate with the high street's dominated by corporate hot beverage outlets these days, its footfall that counts...That's how it is, there isn't room for sentiment in retail these days.'

In a Facebook post to a Lowestoft group today, Lisa Moon rallied locals to support the town's independent businesses.

She raised the idea of making an accessible list of Lowestoft's hidden gems on the social media site, saying: 'We can start buying local and supporting our independent shops. Use it or lose it.'