AN OLD-FASHIONED sweet shop could be the next high street casualty in Christchurch if a buyer is not found soon.

Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe has been for sale for two years but current owners Geoff Morris and Heather Lawton have been unable to secure a deal.

They want to move to the Midlands to be near their new granddaughter and said the shop will have to close by Christmas if no one comes forward to take it over.

Mr Simms is a national chain but all the shops are individually owned. They are operated on a franchise basis and Geoff and Heather own the lease.

He told the Daily Echo: "We would love to sell the shop as a going concern. We have made a perfectly good living out of it for nearly seven years so someone else could do the same.

"They might even do better than us because we can be a bit lazy at times."

The shop, near the Fountain roundabout end of the High Street, sells sweets for as little as 1p each and prides itself on its customer service.

"We know we can't beat the supermarkets on price but we can beat them on service" said Geoff. "You can have a little bit of this and a little bit of that in here.

"If a child comes in with 3p of their lunch money left, we can find them something."

He said they have many regular customers of all ages, including a woman in her 90s who buy two bags of sweets a week for her two sons, who are in their 60s.

Their pick and mix section is popular with young children but Geoff added: "We do it for them so they don't have to put their fingers in the sweets."

Party bags are also popular at the shop and its chocolate is specially made.

Anyone interested should call Geoff or Heather on 01202 489662.