The owners of Reading’s ultimate escape room experience have said that they are ‘overwhelmed’ by the support they have received after announcing their imminent closure next month.

Time Trap Escape Rooms, located on Friar Street, was opened eight years ago by Andrew and Katie to provide the people of Reading with a fun and immersive night out.

From Pudding Lane - the Great Fire of London experience - to their Alice in Wonderland adventure, the business has created experiences for over 60,000 players during their time at the Friar Street venue.

After being unable to agree on a new lease for the following year, Time Trap has been forced to close its doors for the final time.

Andrew Ingle said: “It’s been on the cards for a while and unfortunately we've been unable to agree on a new lease with the owner and the only choice is to let it go.

“There are no immediate plans to reopen but we would still love to be involved in the Reading community if we can in some way. It would be great however if we could somehow partner with another independent business eventually to continue running events in the town.”

Katie and Andrew began the business straight out of university and have since become an integral part of the community.

They said: “We poured our whole 20s into creating something that we hoped Reading would be proud of.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank every customer that has visited – whether it was just once, or if you returned for every new experience, we truly appreciate you.

Andrew told the Chronicle: “We are so overwhelmed at the support that we have received on social media. It wasn’t something we expected and we are so grateful for everyone who has visited and supported the business.”

Time Trap Escape Rooms has confirmed that their last day will be on Wednesday, March 20.

The people of Reading took to social media following the announcement to express their disappointment and sadness at the loss to the Reading community.

One commenter said on X (formerly Twitter): “Sad to hear this. The best escape rooms in town, in my view. I do hope that you might still yet find an alternative site. Thank you for the fun times over the years.”

Nick Ellis, who shared the escape rooms original post said: “At some point soon there’ll be no independent businesses left in our town, and we’re going to wonder how it was allowed to happen.”