A THEATRICAL costume shop which has provided clothing and props to drama groups across East Lancashire is to close its doors for the final time later this year.

Dress Circle, which was set up by three friends, is attempting to sell off its 3,000 costumes before it shuts down for good.

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Founders Jane Rawkins, Joan Mackin and Kath Longworth have run the Berry Lane business in Longridge for 30 years but are now looking forward to retirement.

Over the years they have attracted customers from all over the region seeking vintage attires for plays or period, foreign, Shakespearian, fairy tale, and fancy dress costumes, for special events or anniversaries.

The friends met through the amateur dramatic group Grimsargh Players and started putting needle and thread together to repair some of the costumes the group used.

After spotting a business opportunity the friends sought out a building in the centre of the town and set up shop hiring out costumes and producing their own for hire and for sale.

The business has now stopped hiring out costumes and is trying to sell off the remaining stock as well as the building.

Kath, a mother-of-two and grandmother-of-one, said: “We have all really enjoyed running the shop over the last 30 years.

“It’s a shame to be stopping but we are all grandmothers now and have other things that we want to do and focus on.

“It started out just repairing and altering costumes for the drama group but it very quickly became much more than that.

“None of us are trained sewers and we just learnt as we went along.

“We got better the more we did it but there were a few pieces that were thrown in a bin in anger over the years.

“Since we announced that we would be closing the interest in people buying the costumes has been great and we are hoping to get a lot of it sold before too long.

“We don’t have a closing down date just yet because we still have to find a buyer for the property which could take a while.”

Cllr Ken Hind, who represents the town on Ribble Valley Borough Council, said: “These types of businesses are the bricks and mortar of any town centre.

“It’s an amazing achievement to have run a business like this over the last 30 years and I wish them a happy retirement.

“It would be great if we could find a buyer for the property and the businesses itself and see if we can keep such a great asset to the community open.”