THE owner of a menswear retailer in Bournemouth has warned that his business would have to close unless he is able to relocate the shop closer to the town centre.

Nihad Obagi, the owner of Westover Road’s Alfa Menswear, has submitted plans to be able to use their unit as a restaurant or café which would allow the shop to move closer to the town centre.

It comes as another blow to the street which has long been known as ‘Bournemouth’s Bond Street’ following upmarket shoe shop Russell & Bromley’s closure at the beginning of the month.

Mr Obagi said that footfall along the road had fallen in recent years and that the shop had made a loss in the last two years after nearly three decades of making a profit.

“We are strongly of the opinion that any attempt to regenerate life at the upper end of Westover Road will be deemed to fail,” he said.

“There is currently an abundance of empty units in Westover Road that have been vacant for a considerable period of time with no sign of interest from new businesses.”

The same proposal was put to Bournemouth Council last summer but was refused by planners due to the loss of retail space.

Resubmitting the plans, Mr Obagi said that permission for the change would be the only way the shop would be able to continue trading.

“If the business is to stand any chance of survival, we must look to relocate either further down Westover Road, where the footfall is much higher and we would be surrounded by other fashion retailers – not eateries, or possibly even Old Christchurch Road,” he added.

“Failing that, we will be doomed to shutting shop and walking away.

“We urge you to reconsider our application allowing us the change of use for us to stand a chance of relocating and ultimately saving our business and the jobs of our employees.”

Store manager Andy Newland said that increases to parking charges along Westover Road had had a big impact on footfall in recent years.

“I’ve been here for three years and even in that time I’ve noticed a big decline in the number of people coming by,” he said.

“The main thing is that charges at the meters keep going up but the cinema relocating has also massively hit us.

“We have no intention of closing the shop but we need to be further down Westover Road where there is a higher footfall.”

He added that the number of vacant units in the street was also putting people off from carrying on to businesses further along with neighbouring shops also feeling the effects.

Recent months have seen a number of businesses in Bournemouth, including Marks and Spencer, announce plans to close branches with House of Fraser becoming the latest on Thursday.

Town centre councillor Bob Chapman said that the council needed to review parking charges and ways of supporting businesses in the town.

"Alfa Menswear is a smart shop and we should do all we can to help support them and if they are saying parking charges are putting people off then we need to look at them," he said.

"If they are saying they will stay in the town centre then I see no reason why we could refuse the application."