A Witney town centre supermarket will shut its doors on Saturday, April 3.

The Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-op is closing the Market Square store despite a campaign to save it, launched last year by 84-year-old pensioner Evelyn Jones and a 500 signature petition. The Co-op says it has traded at a loss for a number of years. A new store will open on the Madley Park estate in the summer.

Bill Laird, a spokesman for the Co-op, which last week posted record pre-tax profits, said: "We very much regret that we will have to close this store. Due to its location and despite investment, it has not traded profitably for a number of years.

"We have monitored store performance very closely and there is no sign of this changing.

"The store will close this month because the new owners have asked us to vacate the premises.

"We had hoped that as we closed the town centre store we would open up our new purpose-built store in Madley Park, but unfortunately there have been construction delays which are out of our control. This will now open in the early summer."

All staff from the town centre store will continue to be employed until they transfer to Madley Park.

Mr Laird said, "Sadly, we have to close the doors at our town centre store, but we are not closing the doors on Witney."