Suffolk coffee company Paddy and Scott's will close its online shop for four days on Black Friday

A Suffolk coffee chain is preparing to go dark during the Black Friday period for ethical reasons.

Paddy and Scott's, which has cafés in Ipswich and Hadleigh but supplies coffee to the entire nation, will close its online shop from November 25 to 28 to allow its workers to help their communities.

It will refuse to participate in one of the busiest sales periods of the year over concerns it encourages people to spend money where they may not need nor want to.

Its freed-up staff will help four charities hand-picked by the team: Suffolk Libraries, Little Lifts, Rural Coffee Caravan and St Helena Hospice.

Company boss Jon Reed said the firm has dipped its toes into Black Friday before, but found it to be 'a highly-charged frenzy' to encourage consumers to spend beyond their means.

He added: "At a time when countless people around the UK are struggling to pay their heating bills, this period of online supermarket sweep doesn’t really connect with our moral compass.

"Nor does the trend of pushing up prices, only to apply false discounts for the duration of Black Friday weekend."

He noted it is a risky move to shut down their website during this period, but it offers a chance to have a positive impact locally.

Staff will be able to help out the charities starting from Black Friday, which could continue in the weeks that follow.

Its cafés will still remain open during the online blackout.

Mr Reed said: “We could have just sat it out, and carried on trading as normal, but we wanted to make a stand and give our team the chance to invest their efforts in making a real difference."