Retailers in Shrewsbury shopping centre told they must shut up shop

The running of the Bridge Link between the Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres in Shrewsbury was part of the area handed over to Phoenix Centre Management in 2014.

It came as the future of the Riverside was thrashed out amid plans for a multi-million pound rebuild of the site.

Now, the bosses of the companies in the five kiosks on the Bridge Link, including key cutting and vinyl shops, have been told they must leave by May 3. Phoenix will continue to run the rest of the Riverside as it has for the last two years.

Centre spokesman Richard Sunderland said: "The closure of the kiosks on the bridge link at Pride Hill forms part of the wider regeneration strategy that is being implemented in Shrewsbury town centre.

"We will be working with the retailers to relocate them elsewhere in the centres and they have already been invited to discuss opportunities with us." He added that the closures would allow the owners of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside centres to find new big-name tenants.

"The local community will soon witness some of the exciting asset management initiatives that are progressing at pace," he said. "These include filling a number of existing void units with national retailers.

"We currently have 22 independents in our centres and have supported these retailers in growing their business. These local businesses remain an important consideration as part of the ongoing asset management strategy to improve the Shrewsbury shopping experience."

One retailer in the Bridge Link, music store Tubeway Records, posted on Facebook: "We were not given a specific reasons, we were simply given 28 days to get out.

"So, unless we can find a new place at decent rental rates, which is proving very difficult, we will be forced to close our doors. All the investment we made will be lost and we will lose our livelihood."