A much-loved bookshop in the heart of Melksham is to close after more than 20 years.

Duncan Horsley, 50, has decided to call it a day and close his What The Dickens Bookshop in Church Street, Melksham.

Mr Horsely said: “The lease is up for renewal and at any time when a lease comes up you need to consider it carefully and I decided not to take a new lease up for personal and commercial reasons.

“I have decided to call it a day as bookselling in this country is changing and booksellers are having a hard time.

“I didn’t want to take out a lease for five years when I couldn’t guarantee that I could go on for that long.”

First butchers, then post offices and now the independent bookshops are finding it more difficult to cope in today’s economic climate due to pressures from supermarkets, internet shopping and even cheaper charity shop alternatives.

Mr Horsley, who lives in Bowerhill but is originally from Sussex, said: “A lot of people look on the internet now because it is convenient, but then you miss the face-to-face interaction and I think that is what is sad about the book industry and the fact that independent retailers are closing down.”

Now, with plenty of spare time ahead, Mr Horsley is looking forwards to his future outside of the bookstore.

“I am going to have some rest,” he said.

“There are lots of things for me to do, like doing my house up and the gardening, and I shall enjoy doing that for a while.

“I will miss the shop, very much so. I will especially miss the customers who have been fantastic over the years.

“I have become friends with many of them. It is difficult to have to face them and tell them that ‘I’m sorry, but I’m going’.

“You do get to know people through their reading habits, even if they don’t realise it themselves but that is what makes it so familiar and interesting.”

The shop is due to close at the end of August with a half-price sale on until closure.