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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Joe Griffin & Alahna Kindred

Shop owner relocating after 31 years as customers 'too scared' to go down street

A shop owner says she has been forced to pack up and move to a new location after customers told her they are "too scared" to come down the street.

Wendy Reed, 60, is the owner of Westlands bridal shop in Boston, Lincolnshire, and has been in the same location for more than 30 years.

She said she was hoping she'd stay in the same location until she retired, but will now move following multiple problems in recent years.

Wendy says she has trouble parking and has seen people urinate in her shop doorway.

She said that the street where her shop is has "died and the town of Boston has "absolutely had it".

Wendy says she's fed up of people 'peeing in her doorway' (Google)

She told LincolnshireLive: "I just can't stay down West Street anymore because I have too much trouble.

"I have trouble with parking, people peeing in my doorway and I can't deal with the drunks.

"I can't shut because I have five staff and don't want to let them down, so I'm moving to the Boston Laundry on Main Ridge.

"I'll give it a couple of years to see how it goes there but West Street has just absolutely died.

"Everyone that comes in says they're too scared to come down here. In April, Rebos is going and I'm going. It will become an absolute ghost town.

"I know of another big shop that's going as well but they haven't announced it yet.

"I'm 61 next week, I'd have liked to have seen my years out at West Street in my shop but I can't because nobody's coming down there. I thought I'd be there forever, but the town has absolutely had it."

Westlands bridal shop will move to the new location at Main Ridge on Saturday, April 1.

It comes as a host of retailers from Greggs to Mango are set to expand their store estates this year in a boost for the struggling UK high street.

TK Maxx, New Look, B&Q and Wetherspoons are just some of the other businesses that have announced branch closures amid the cost of living crisis.

It comes after a number of closures in recent months - including the collapse of card and stationery retailer Paperchase at the end of January.

While the 106 standalone Paperchase stores will close, the actual brand itself is to live on after Tesco bought the intellectual property and will start to sell Paperchase products in its supermarkets.

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