HELENSBURGH’S sole remaining shoe shop is set to walk away from the town in less than five months.

Clarks announced this week that the Sinclair Street store, which is believed to have first been occupied by the company in 1963, will close at the turn of the year.

The news comes after plans were submitted to Argyll and Bute Council to change the use of the premises from a retail to food and drink outlet.

Proposals by the same applicants, Aspin Estates Limited, were approved by the local authority’s planning department three years ago, however, no work was ever carried out.

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A Clarks spokesperson said: “At Clarks, we continually review all of our stores to ensure that they are the right size and located in the right areas in order to provide the best possible offering and environment to our customers.

“After careful consideration, we have decided not to renew the lease on our Helensburgh store, which will close in January 2020.

“We have a strong duty of care to our employees and we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our colleagues.

“All team members are being consulted with and we are exploring all avenues to find them suitable alternative roles at our other Clarks stores.

“Customers can continue to shop from our full range of products online and at our stores in and around Glasgow.”

The Helensburgh store currently employs 11 members of staff.

Helensburgh resident George Hargan, whose late brother John ran a shoe shop in the town for more than 40 years, said the closure of the store will be a sad day for retail in Helensburgh.

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He told the Advertiser: “I feel very sad and extremely disappointed that the town is losing its last standalone shoe shop and the only shop in Helensburgh selling children’s shoes.

“I would very much have liked it to remain in the town.

“Helensburgh has one of the lowest rates in Scotland at five per cent of empty shops, across Scotland it stands at 11 per cent, but to remain like that it needs a reasonable variety of shops.

“This move dilutes the variety of shops available.

“Retailers are struggling across the UK and more shops are closing than opening.

“Most simply cannot afford more rent and in this case it makes the shop unviable.

“It will be interesting to see if they can find a new tenant as the ground floor is too small for many retailers.

“Most small towns like Helensburgh no longer have a shoe shop as many shoe chains have gone and those that remain only trade in larger towns, so, unfortunately, it will be very hard to find another shoe shop to trade in Helensburgh.

“It will be very sad for Helensburgh to lose this very long-established shoe shop.”

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A spokesperson for the Helensburgh and Lomond Chamber of Commerce said: “We are obviously sad to see a long established business closing.

“It’s clearly a continuing indication of how the high street is changing; there is now much more emphasis on entertainment and leisure.

“Part of Helensburgh’s unique selling point is the fine food and drink services on offer and people come from all over to enjoy that.

“However, there is still a high number of boutique shops offering local produce of all kinds and they are not going away.

“Helensburgh is not suffering from having too many restaurants. These are bringing people in to the other unique things that the town has to offer and we are lucky to have so many.”