THE owner of a high street furniture store in Horwich has announced that she will be shutting her doors for the final time at the end of this month.

Forever Home Interiors in Lee Lane will be closing on Saturday, June 23.

Owner Stephanie Chadwick, who lives in Bradford Road, Farnworth, runs the shop while working full-time at Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

She said she was closing for a combination of reasons, including being told that redundancies at GMP, which she was informed would be happening soon, had been delayed until 2020.

The portfolio officer, who has been working for the force for15 years, said: "I work full time for GMP and because of all the cuts to the public sector, we were going to be made redundant. They started saying this about three years ago.

"I already had a business at this point but we started looking for premises and I thought if I was made redundant then I would have that to fall back on.

"I found a shop, renovated it and opened up in March 2016. Since then, there has been no other mention of redundancy. Then they said it would not be until 2020.

"So I could not work full time and manage a shop at the same time for that long because I could not dedicate enough time to it."

She said she works 36.5 hours per week for GMP and another two days at the shop, effectively a seven-day week.

As well as her job, Ms Chadwick said there had been a hit to the takings in the last year partly because of competition from bigger stores.

She also currently pays £650 a month rent and said she believes it is one of the most expensive properties in Lee Lane in terms of rent.

She said that her landlord will also be increasing it when the lease has expired.

The owner added: "So it has been a combination of things. I think people are holding on to their money. It has made a big difference in the last year on the takings."

Forever Homes Interiors will continue as an online-only store.