CARDIGAN shoppers stripped Budgens supermarket of all its cut-price stock in the hours leading up to its final closure at the weekend.

There was a subdued and depressed atmosphere as the store on Cardigan Quay – until July of last year Cardigan Co-op – finally closed with the loss of 21 jobs.

One worker, who did not want to be named, said: “I feel sick to the pit of my stomach, to be quite honest – I’ve really loved working here.

“People coming in have been very kind and understanding, but jobs are thin on the ground round here and we just don’t know what the future holds.

“All we can do is hope that another supermarket chain takes over this site. It’s slap, bang in the middle of town so you wouldn’t think it’d be empty for very long.”

Describing the final moments before closure, one shopper said: “I watched a member of staff at the counter on her mobile phone taking orders for the last remaining cigarettes on the shelves at vastly reduced prices.

“It stuck me it was not unlike a situation hit by economic poverty straight out of eastern Europe - that’s what it all felt like today.”

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