A BOURNEMOUTH gift shop is closing its doors next month because its owner says the part of town it's situated in is “dying”.

Michele Troke opened Hollywillow Gifts in Wimborne Road, Moordown, in June 2015.

The shop sells cards and gifts for special occasions such as christenings, weddings and birthdays as well as modern vintage and shabby chic-style items.

Ms Troke said: “There’s just not the people on the high street. Everyone’s going online, and I figure if you can’t beat them join them.”

The store already has a Facebook page but Ms Troke said she is building a website and is planning to close the shop around the middle of February.

She said: “There’s lots of hairdressers here but everything else is pretty much dying. There’s a florist and estate agents. There’s lots of service stuff. There’s a reptile shop next door and a café but that closed because there was a fire.

“In the last year I would say we probably dropped off by about 30 per cent which is pretty much in line with what’s happening nationally. I was seeing how it was going over Christmas, that’s normally our best time of year, but even that was down for me.”

“Obviously it’s January anyway, which is usually always quiet. You either wait it out of you’ve got to bite the bullet,” she added.

She said she had considered moving to another premises elsewhere in Bournemouth, but didn’t feel that it would help.

She said: “I had thought about it, but the cost of moving is always considerate, and everyone is always struggling whatever high street you’re on.”

Last year a report by accountancy firm PwC said 14 shops are closing every day on UK high streets.

According to the report, 2,692 shops shut across the UK in the first half of 2018.

As reported in the Daily Echo earlier this month, Steamer Trading cookware shop and Uptown Girl, which had been operating in The Triangle for 32 years, both recently closed their doors.