A NEWSAGENT and toy shop which had become part of the furniture in a York street for more than eight decades has closed its doors for good.

London’s News and Toys in Hawthorne Grove, Heworth, first opened in East Parade in 1914 by Frederick London, selling cards, toys and stationary, as well as newspapers, magazines and tobacco, and moved to its more familiar location in the early 1930s.

The toy department closed last year, but management intended to keep the newsagent open. However, 12 months later, an emotional decision was made to bring the shutters down for one last time on Saturday.

A petition was set up by Jo Coles, a former London’s paper girl, to save the signage and York Museums Trust is to take ownership of it over the coming weeks.

Mrs Coles said: “There has been such amazing local support to try to preserve the London’s signs.

“I’ve asked York Museums Trust to now approach the owners to ensure the signs can be preserved.”