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 early next year.

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

Originating in Taiwan in 1998 cat cafes have been made famous by the Japanese and become a global phenomenon, with the UK seeing its first opening in July in Totnes, Devon.

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

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

Both Mr Ely, 26, and Ms Craddock, 22, are currently working full-time in order to make the Koneko dream a reality.

Mr Ely states that Koneko will play host to 10 rescue cats, with eight of them in permanent residence and two up for adoption.

Plans are for the cafe to be heavily involved with local cat rescue charities, with some of Koneko’s profits being funnelled straight back into rescue groups.

Mr Ely said the cats “will be part of our family, not part of the staff” and that they would like to “give them a second chance”.

Mr Ely said: “We want it to be affordable.

“Brighton has twice as many people in rental properties than the national average so a lot of people do not get the chance to have a cat of their own.”

The final stages of crowd-funding will begin in the next few weeks.