IT is – as the Famous Five might have said – jolly rotten luck.

A Poole tourist attraction dedicated to the artist who illustrated Enid Blyton’s adventure stories is to close.

Eileen Soper’s Illustrated Worlds has been in the former Swan Inn, near Poole Quay, for three years.

In that time, plenty of children have enjoyed a trip through its secret passageway, tea in an old-fashioned gypsy caravan, or just playing with its selection of toys from a bygone era.

The fact that owner Viv Endecott is shutting up shop is worrying for the town. It shows just how hard it is for an independent business person to see out this recession, however good an idea they might have and however well they promote it.

The landlord has plans to let the site to a restaurant. Poole is not short of those, so we must hope this one will have something distinctive about it.

But for many children, this news is going to ruin the next summer hols.