WHSmith in Gainsborough will close later this year

WHSmith has announced its decision not to renew the lease on the Gainsborough branch in Silver Street.

The firm, which sells a range of stationery and books, has not revealed why it has decided not to renew the lease or release the number of staff who will be affected by the closure.

A WHSmith spokesman said: “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Gainsborough will be closing at the end of May when our lease terminates.

“We’d like to thank all our local customers for shopping with us; they can continue to buy our great range of products at our WHSmith store in Retford.”

The Retford branch of WHSmith is more than 11 miles away from Gainsborough, which takes about 25 minutes in a car.

The news of another store leaving Gainsborough comes just a week after McColl's announced it was closing its newsagents in the town on April 3.

Coun Trevor Young, who represents Gainsborough South West at West Lindsey District Council, said: “I am extremely disappointed and this will be a great loss to the town centre.

“We have now lost numerous shops in the town centre and there needs be far more effort to stop any further shop closures. In addition, the Liberal Democrat group has submitted a question to the next full West Lindsey District Council meeting calling for free parking in the town centre as we feel this would be a huge benefit to both shoppers and businesses.”