Pavilion centre is to close

One of the region's biggest garden centres is to close with the loss of 10 jobs, it emerged today.

The Pavilion Garden Centre in Bridgnorth Road, near Wolverhampton, is shutting in the New Year with bosses blaming bad weather, customers shopping on-line and the gloomy economy.

Chris Wright, who has run the centre for the last 13 years, told the Express & Star that trade had steadily declined since 2004 and that the retail crisis had made it worse.

He said: "Our wages, business rates, national insurance costs and just about every other overhead you can think of has increased in recent years while our trade has steadily got worse. It's very sad for all the staff and for me personally but we are having to admit defeat. I don't think the public quite realises the wave of change upon them. We are just one of the first of the businesses to be affected by this."

A closing down sale is under way at the store but it has not yet been revealed exactly when it will close its doors.