A card shop that has been a staple of Aberystwyth’s high street for decades is to close.

Staff at Clinton Cards were told on Friday that their store is to close in February.

The firm said the terms of a lease renewal on the property were ‘cost prohibitive’.

A representative for Clinton said: “Following the sale of the business to Esquire Retail Ltd in December 2019, we are reviewing the leases in our store portfolio.

"We can confirm that the Aberystwyth store on Great Darkgate Street will be closing on Saturday, 15 February.”

It is not known how many job losses it will mean for the town.

The spokesperson added: “In this case, the terms of the lease renewal for our Aberystwyth store were cost prohibitive and we have been forced to take the difficult decision to close the store.

"Our staff have been informed and we will make every effort to redeploy staff members wherever possible.”

Local county councillor Ceredig Davies said: “Clinton’s financial problems have been known for some time and when the local shop closes, it will be a further retail loss for the town.

"It is becoming evident that the Amazon effect is hitting our high streets hard and those retailers who either fail or can not respond to such unprecedented, and to some extent unfair competition will cease trading.”