A COUPLE who opened a pet shop in their front room are bowing out of the business after 27 years.

Audrey and Stephen Court started Courts Pet Shop in the converted living room of their house in Chorley Old Road, Doffcocker, in 1988 while continuing to live in the back and upstairs.

Mrs Court said: "There was no pet shop in the area but my husband was a landscape gardener and I used to work in finance amd then we just decided to set it up.

"We hadn't any business experience at all.

"We just started off with a few general pets and within the first week I had a long list of requests."

The couple later extended the shop to take up the whole ground floor and eventually moved to live elsewhere but kept the store running.

Baby rabbits were the bestsellers and the Courts used to breed them themselves alongside stocking more exotic animals like tarantulas for a while.

Mrs Court said: "We have had some wonderful customers, both past and present, and the children of former customers are bringing in their own children.

"We have enjoyed it. We're retiring and we'll miss the customers and having a little chat when they come in."

They stopped offering live pets for sale last Christmas in anticipation of winding the business down and now are having a sale on food and accessories to get rid of the stock.

The couple have put the pet shop up for sale but will shut for good at the end of November if there are no takers.