A YORK city centre shop which has sold electrical items for 62 years is to close down after no one came forward to buy it as a going concern.

Ken Devey, who runs Ernest Roy Electrical in Patrick Pool, says there have been many inquiries from people interested in continuing to run the business but no was willing to commit to buying it.

The Press revealed in January how Mr Devey, who had run the shop for 26 years, had decided to retire.

Numerous shops have closed in York in recent times but Mr Devey said at that time that the business was profitable and he hoped someone would take it on as a going concern and keep it open.

Many retailers have complained in York about high rents and business rates making them unviable, sparking a series of shop closures which have caused great concern to residents, but Mr Devey said his shop was in a very small building and therefore these were lower.

He said yesterday that people hadn't indicated why they had chosen not to go ahead and take over the business, but he thought that uncertainty, for example over Brexit, had been a factor.

He said he was now holding a sale with items being sold at a ' huge discount', and he intended to close before the end of May, when he had sold enough stock.

The shop, which sells small electrical items from radios and telephones to clocks and speakers, was launched in the building near Shambles Market, by Ernest Roy in 1957.

Agents Barry Crux said in January that the long established business had an ‘outstanding reputation’ and was in an excellent location with its close proximity to both Shambles and Shambles Market, and it was for sale for a £15,000 lease.

Mr Devey said he would have no say in what the building would now be used for because, although he took over the business in 1993, Ernest Roy’s family had continued to own the building.

Mr Devey has told previously how a stream of customers calling in to the shop had said in recent times how sorry they were to see he was going. “They’ve said I’m not allowed to go!” he said.