The permanent closure of a Swindon town centre store has come after 50 years.

Swindon Pulse Wholefoods on Curtis Street confirmed it was set to close for good this month.

An inability to compete with supermarkets and financial issues exacerbated by the Covid pandemic were cited as the reason why the decades-long fixture was coming to an end

The store held a closing ceremony with bubbly on Tuesday, March 26, "where once a ribbon was cut to open the shop, a ribbon was tied".

This Is Wiltshire: Swindon Pulse Wholefoods has closed

A spokesperson said: "In 1976, when whole was one word and food another, idealistic Lower Shaw Farm residents and workers who wanted to make the world a better, healthier, and more environment-friendly place, drove a Morris Minor van into Swindon daily and, parked at the top of Commercial Road near the Library, sold pulses and wholefoods from the back of it.

"Enough inquisitive and like-minded Swindonians bought these wholefoods for Swindon Pulse Wholefoods to be born and move into short-term premises at the bottom of Curtis Street.

"In due course, in the early 1980s, when business was almost booming and larger more long-term premises were needed, they found a very friendly landlord who provided a lovely shop space for them at 27 Curtis Street.

"Now, their time is over. Their location and service has been overtaken by 21st-century selling methods and prices."