A community has reacted with uproar after supermarket bosses ordered the owner of a popular newsagents to close his ‘lifeline’ store.
David Carter, owner of The Fields Newsagents at Radbrook Green Shopping Centre, has been told to leave his premises by August 19 after bosses at the Midcounties Co-operative, which owns the building, refused to extend his lease.
The shop space is expected to be used to sell ‘white’ goods such as fridges and cookers, although this has yet to be confirmed.
Now angry residents have threatened to boycott the supermarket in protest at the decision after the news was broken to them this week.
Mr Carter’s shop was the first to open in the community shopping centre 21 years ago. It has a cash machine and photocopier and supplies newspapers, stationery and mobile phone cards, while customers can also pay utility bills and TV licence fees over the counter.
Mr Carter, who also owns newsagents in Porthill, Frankwell and Longden Coleham, said: “It’s another nail in the coffin for small independent traders. The supermarket bosses are just taking my business away from me – it’s as if I haven’t got a business to sell.
“I have been here for 21 years and it was the first shop to open in the shopping centre. We’ve always supplied what local people want – we have 1,200 customers on our deliveries list for newspapers, magazines and supplies.
“I feel really sorry for the elderly people on the estate who enjoy the walk to our shop but cannot get into town. I don’t know what they will do now.
“A lot of people have told me they will boycott the Co-op over this, they really are that angry.”
Ward borough councillor Keith Roberts said: “It’s a lifeline for some people – it’s where they meet and the shop really is at the heart of Radbrook Green.
“I believe the space will be used to sell ‘white goods’ like fridges and cookers. It’s a really sad occasion for everyone in the area.”
Resident John Crick said: “We are all really concerned – the shop is central to our whole estate. Everyone goes in there and he sells everything people need – it’s as bad as other communities losing their post office.” Fellow resident Catherine Roberts said: “The shop is very rarely devoid of customers and is a hub of the community. It’s yet another case of a small business being devoured by ‘Big Brother’.
No-one from the Midcounties Co-operative was available to comment as the Chronicle went to press.