By Henry Holloway

The people of Brighton will soon have a place to share a cuppa with their feline friends as one of the UK's first cat cafes is set to open in the city in spring.

Koneko Cat Cafe, taking its name from the Japanese word for kitten, will be the first of its kind in Brighton.

Project leaders, cat loving couple Jon Ely, 26, and Keri Craddock, 22, said: "Brighton is the perfect place for it, people here like things a little bit quirky and they have the right attitude."

Mr Ely and Ms Craddock added that their desire to bring Koneko to Brighton was also due to high numbers of people renting, many of whom do not have the chance to have a pet of their own.

Plans are for the cafe to be heavily involved with Brighton's cat rescue groups, with some of Koneko's profits going straight to local rescue charities.

Koneko will play host to ten rescue cats for patrons to watch, stroke and play with.

Eight of the cats will be in permanent residence and plans are for two to be up for adoption.

Mr Ely said that the cats: "Will be part of our family, not part of the staff. We would love to give them a second chance."

Originating in Taiwan in 1998, cat cafes have been made famous in Japan, which has 39 in Tokyo alone.

The phenomenon has since gone global, with the UK seeing its first open in Totnes, Devon in the July this year.

Koneko Cat Cafe promises to give patrons a place to kick back and relax with home-made cakes, hand-crafted latte art and a far-eastern zen atmosphere.

Mr Ely said ideally they will not be charging an hourly rate for attendance as is typical for most cat cafes, adding that they want Koneko to be affordable.

The final stages of crowd-funding will begin in the next few weeks, with Mr Ely and Ms Craddock currently working full-time to make the Koneko dream a reality.