30708-01YET another Highworth business has folded with the owner predicting a gloomy future for town traders.

Picturesque Framing is the latest casually of a downturn in trade.

Owner Catherine O'Bree blamed the Co-op for her decision to shut.

She said passing trade had dropped dramatically since the Co-op shut its convenience store in High Street.

The store shut less than a year after the Co-op opened its new £4.5-million superstore in Brewery Street.

Mrs O'Bree, who opened her shop four-and-a-half-years ago, says many small businesses relied on passing trade generated by the convenience store.

"Since the Co-op closed we have lost footfall in the town centre," she said. "Before, we had a steady stream of people walking past. "Highworth used to have lots of small retail stores but at this rate it won't be long before there's nothing here."

It was the town's vibrant mix of small shops that attracted Mrs O'Bree to Highworth.

But recently the town has lost a pet shop, a needlework store, a newsagents and a saddlery.

While some closed due to lack of trade, in other cases the owners retired and were unable to sell the business as a going concern.

For Mrs O'Bree, 40, of Park South, Swindon, setting up a business was the realisation of a dream, and she is devastated.

"I love picture framing, and I am very upset," said the mother-of-three. "This was my little dream. "

Mrs O'Bree trained in picture framing at Craftworld in Swindon, but wanted her own business.

She called on the town council to do more to save Highworth's character as a busy market town.

Town mayor Gordon Jefferies is a trader himself, and runs Jefferies DIY, also in High Street.

He said: "The Co-op has not affected me but I have noticed people don't spend so much here and prefer to go to larger stores.

"People will buy a newspaper in Highworth but if they want a can of paint they will do a 10-mile round trip to Swindon.

"The council does not have much control over whether shops are sold on as a going concern, but we have been fighting for our shops."

In January, town councillors summoned Co-op bosses to Highworth to explain why they shut the store.

Councillors said it was a lifeline for many pensioners. The building is currently empty and is on the market. Although shops are suffering, the Advertiser recently reported the town's weekly market was booming.

Co-op spokesman Adrian Barradell said: "Our aim in moving to the new and bigger store was to develop, in conjunction with the community and the local authority, a much better supermarket. This has proved very popular with residents.

"Our old store was not operating profitably and we had to close it."

Tamash Lal