New Zealand's 'rudest' cafe gets new owners

The cafe described as the rudest in New Zealand has been sold to new owners.

The Springfield Store & Cafe in Canterbury became notorious for the way former cafe operators Karyn and Donald Cullingford treated customers.

A video of the pair arguing with a group went viral and the torrent of bad reviews and complaints led police to investigate.

"Extremely rude, aggressive, and threatening conduct. Disgusting!" one Google Review read. "The rudest - nastiest - people behind the counter you will ever met - Don't bother to go there! [sic]" said another.

Former Selwyn Mayor Bill Woods, who owned the building, accepted an offer last month to sell it to local investors Karl Hardaker and Bronwyn Squires.

The new owners want cafe operators Karyn and Donald Cullingford gone and will take over in early November.

"They are not interested in leasing it to the [Cullingfords] - they want it for themselves," Woods told Stuff last month.

"They have given me no indication of what they want to do with it… they might pull it down and do something else. It's a bit of a mystery to me."

The new owners told Stuff they might be looking at leasing the building out some time in the future.

Newshub.