A shop in an Oxfordshire garden centre is closing after 30 years of trading.

World of Water, located in Bicester Avenue, will close this month.

The closure of the specialist aquatic store was announced on its website and Facebook page last week.

General manager Karl, who did not disclose his surname, told us the site is closing due to a number of reasons.

"Overheads are the main issue and the changing shopping habits - we don’t see the same amount of customers we used to," he said. 

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"We use a lot of water to keep the fish healthy, and our electricity bill is very high.

"We’re a very energy heavy industry with tropical fish and heating tanks.

Fish sold at World of Water, BicesterFish sold at World of Water, Bicester (Image: World of Water Bicester) "Electricity has gone up massively in the last three/four years for business use. There is no cap on business use electricity like there is on home use.

"Rent is quite high - our site is one of the ones with the highest overheads."

Karl, who has worked at World of Water in Bicester since 2001, said the site has gone through "several changes" and was closed for nearly a year due to a fire in 2016.

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He added: "We’re exceptionally thankful for everyone's custom over the years, we've got to know some customers on a regular basis very well, thank you for people’s custom over the years and we’re very sorry that we are closing."

There is currently a 20 per cent sale in the store.

It will close towards end of December, with the final date depending on stock levels.

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