A CORNER community shop in Royston is to close – leaving nearby elderly residents struggling to get to a shop. The Co-op in Burns Road is to close next Saturday due to poor trading . A Co-operative Group spokeswoman said: The Co-op has announced the c

A CORNER community shop in Royston is to close - leaving nearby elderly residents "struggling" to get to a shop.

The Co-op in Burns Road is to close next Saturday due to "poor trading".

A Co-operative Group spokeswoman said: "The Co-op has announced the closure of its Welcome convenience store in Burns Road, Royston. The store will close on May 27 and will mean the loss of two full-time and six part-time jobs, although every effort will be made to redeploy staff to other Co-op stores in the area.

"The closure decision was taken with the greatest reluctance and much regret, but was due to the store's poor trading performance over a number of years."

The store was first opened in 1982 as the Burns Road Store. It was then taken over by Alldays which became the Co-op.

But Royston's ex-mayor Bill Prime, who lives in the area, said: "It's sad because so many people, especially older people in the area, use the shop and it will be a great loss to the community.

"To have no shop there would be terrible. It will be a struggle for some people to get to the other shops so it's always been extremely useful from that point of view.

"From my point of view, it's sad because at one time, we had some anti-social behaviour involving the shop which we gradually overcame. But to then find its going to close in the end is sad.

"I quite understand that it's being closed purely on commercial grounds, but from a social and neighbourhood point of view, I'd very much like to see it taken over by someone else as a shop.