ANXIOUS brides-to-be have been trying to find out will happen after a wedding dress shop went out of business.

Minster Bridal House in Wimborne has closed and several brides have not received their dresses.

Shelly Brodie, 35, from Weymouth, put down a £900 deposit and the first she knew of any problems was when her boyfriend happened to pass the closed shop.

"I have had no reply to phone calls. I wouldn't have known until January or February when I went for the final fitting," said Shelly.

Shop owner Amanda White, from Ferndown, said she did not know how many brides did not have dresses and said others would go through an insolvency practitioner for theirs.

When asked why women had been fitted in the shop's final week of trading, she said the closure had "happened overnight". She said signs saying there was a restocking sale were there because "we always have a sale on".

She later emailed a statement, part of which said: "We have been able to personally deliver dresses to brides and have also contacted any brides with orders that we could offer our shop sample to as a replacement.

"All have been very gracious, kind and understanding. We have tried and succeeded to do the right thing and help as many brides as we could and as quickly as we could. We are truly sorry for the few brides that we could not help."

Eleven women contacted another shop, Special Occasions in Poole, for help, though some have since been given their dresses from Minster Bridal House.

Solicitor Natalie Shiel said her £2,200 dress was delivered in person. She had panicked when finding Minster Bridal House closed.

Lesley Parry, from Special Occasions, said: "It's complete shock in the industry. We are trying to help in any way we can."