A POPULAR cancer research charity shop is set to close because its head office wants to sell the remaining 11 years of its lease.

Volunteer workers at the Imperial Cancer Research shop in Coleford – many of them elderly and long serving helpers – were taken by surprise at the sad news.

And they say the closure, when it happens, will leave a big social gap for Coleford people who used to drop in, as well as the many donors and buyers who have become old friends.

Manageress Joan Atherley, herself a long-time helper in the nine years the shop has been open, says the news came completely out of the blue.

"The word devastated comes to mind," she says. "We were simply told that the organisation was shutting shops like ours in order to sell the lease.

"There was no warning. The lady who came with the news said she had already told four other shops they were going to close that morning.

"They said the sign was going up last Friday, but as yet nobody has called. As soon is the lease is sold I suppose we will have to go."

Some 22 women are currently helping to keep the shop open – some live alone, and it is their only social contact.

Mrs Atherley said there were many donors who brought materials in regularly to help the charity raise funds, and many for whom the cheap clothing on offer was a lifeline – they would otherwise have to travel to Ross, the nearest Imperial Cancer charity shop remaining open.

The shop has always held Easter coffee mornings and Christmas tea and mince pie mornings which were events enjoyed by local people.

Steve Pulling of the fund's head office in Horsham said it was not a decision they had taken lightly. However the charity had a duty to fund research and had to balance income with overheads.

They were grateful for all the help given over the years by volunteers and the community