A SHOE shop that has been in Bewdley since the mid-1960s closed its doors for the last time on Saturday.

Blunts, run by Bob Blunt and his family in Load Street, has left the town after nearly 40 years.

The shop is one of 40 branches across the Midlands, including two in Kidderminster and one in Stourport, and staff have been transferred to the Bull Ring store in Kidderminster.

Mr Blunt, the 78-year-old senior partner who has worked in the family business for 62 years, said there were several factors that led to the closure decision.

He added: " In recent times the all-year-round trade has not been satisfactory in Bewdley to sustain the branch there. First of all the bypass stopped people who would normally stop in Bewdley to buy things as they would bypass the town and shop elsewhere."

He said out-of-town retail parks had also taken their toll, adding: "The big towns now have these retail parks, which attract people from far away. It means that small towns get a smaller proportion of that business."

Mr Blunt, who lives with his wife Olwyne in Stourport, said: "I know it is the correct decision. Nothing stands still, we have to keep going forward and carefully developing the business. It is sad but that's life."

He added: "We have larger branches in Kidderminster, Stourport and Bridgnorth where we expect to give our Bewdley customers the same friendly service and a bigger selection of footwear."

Blunts was founded by Mr Blunt's grandfather, Thomas, 140 years ago and his first shop was in the Bull Ring in Kidderminster. Fifty years later a second shop was opened in Stourport and after another half a century there was further expansion, including the Bewdley shop.

There are now members of the third, fourth and fifth generations of the family working for Blunts.