FALLING tourist numbers have been blamed for the loss of an established Canterbury retailer. The Reject China Shop, based in The Buttermarket for 16 years, will close in mid-June.

Operations manager Eric Francis said: "Trading conditions have been difficult for a number of years. We rely on the tourist trade and the numbers just aren't there anymore. The Americans have stopped coming, the Japanese have stopped coming and the Europeans are not there in the numbers that they used to be."

Mr Francis said that the opening of the designer shopping outlet in Ashford and Bluewater had also taken local customers away.

Moving to another site in the city was not an option, he said. "Because it's a prime location the current site is expensive but the problem of less tourists would still be there if we moved to another site. We have hung on as long as we can but it is just not economically viable anymore."

The shop employs six people including part-time staff. All have been offered jobs in the chain's London shops if they wish to take them.

It is believed another retailer already based in the city is planning to take over the prime location.

A closing down sale has begun at the Reject China Shop and will continue until a few days before the lease expires on June 24.