AN OLD-FASHIONED DIY shop with traditional counter service is closing after nearly 47 years.

Built In DIY in Wimborne Road, Moordown will shut its doors due to the retirement of owners Bob and Sharon Matthews.

The Bournemouth shop has been open since 1972 and has been run by Mr and Mrs Matthews for 20 years.

Mrs Matthews told the Daily Echo: “We took over when the previous owners retired and now it’s our turn.

“Bob is now in his 70s and it is our time to enjoy life. It is nothing more complicated than that - we just decided the time was right.”

The traditional store has a range of more than 2,500 items of hardware and architectural ironmongery, fixings, fittings and sundries.

It also sells electrical items, decorating materials and garden accessories and is one of the few places where customers can obtain sawn timber cut to their requirements.

It is one of the few remaining independent DIY and timber merchants in the Bournemouth area.

Online reviews include: “Bob knows his stuff” and “Best place for cut-to-size wood.”

Another said: “This is about the last shop in Bournemouth where you can buy a small off-cut of timber of a few screws.”

A sign on the window states that a retirement sale is now under way and that “everything must go.”

It is not known when the final day of trading will be.

The shop closure is the latest blow to the town, which has seen numerous local businesses close their doors.

They include Steamer Trading in Bournemouth, which closed its doors yesterday.

Other recent casualties include Nellie Mimosa and the Knitting cafe in Southbourne and numerous town centre shops including Marks and Spencer, Game, tReds, Jones the Bootmaker, Russell and Bromley and Austin Reed.

The future of department stores House of Fraser and Debenhams also hangs in the balance.

Christchurch also has numerous empty units with shops including New Look and Edgar & Scott closing for business.