A POPULAR charity shop is closing its doors for good after failing to find a new home.

The Salvation Army store, in Newport Street, which was leased from a private landlord, has been raising money for the Christian charity since May, 2003.

Now the row of shops is due to be demolished to make way for Bolton’s £48 million transport interchange. The shop closed on Friday.

All neighbouring shops are moving elsewhere in the town, but Bolton Council, which is leading the interchange project, has been unable to find a new base for the Salvation Army, whose nearest shop is now in Wigan.

The shop sold everything from books to beds, and charity bosses say that having no shop in the town will deprive them of thousands of pounds of income each year.

The shop had six full-time workers, a part-time worker and nine volunteers.

A spokesman for the charity said: “We’d like to thank our staff and volunteers for their incredibly hard work over the years, and our customers for their support.

“We’ve really enjoyed being part of the local community. We do not have any current plans to move to another site in Bolton.

“However, we are always seeking new locations for our expanding network of charity shops, so we are not ruling out the opening of a new Bolton store in the future.”

A council spokesman said: “As part of the interchange development, the council will take possession of some retail units in Newport Street in early April.

“We have been working with all the retailers and charities involved to help them find suitable accommodation and have been successful in doing so for a number of the occupiers.

“We have worked closely with the Salvation Army to try to help them find alternative accommodation at an appropriate rental level, but unfortunately the store did not find anything suitable in the town.

“We will continue to highlight accommodation we feel is appropriate for them in the future.”