OXFORD’S only independent record shop is set to close, just eight months after opening.

But the owner of Truck Store, in Cowley Road, is planning to open a new, larger shop in Oxford city centre once premises have been found.

Gary Smith, who owns the Rapture music shops in Witney and Evesham, as well as Truck Store, said the end of a deal on rent meant it was no longer financially viable to keep open a shop in Cowley Road.

He said: “It’s just not a shopping area and, unfortunately, the great customers that we have had in the Cowley Road aren’t enough on their own to sustain the store.”

To say farewell to the store, gigs will be held there today and tomorrow, featuring local artists Richard Walters, Winchell Riots, Dead Jerichos and Dubwiser, with music starting at 2pm today and 4pm tomorrow.

The shop was originally opened as a joint venture between the team behind Steventon’s Truck Festival and Rapture.

Now the company behind Truck has gone into liquidation, the new shop will be called Rapture, in line with the other two stores.

An announcement about a new venue will be made in the coming weeks. The three staff employed at the site will all be transferred to the new shop.

Truck Store will close its doors for good on October 15.