One of Helston's oldest family firms is closing down after 145 years of trading in the town.

Eddy and Son, in Meneage Street, will shut its doors for the final time on Saturday, March 17, following a decision by the current owners - prominent Helston brothers Donald and John Eddy - to sell the premises.

Donald said this week the decision to sell had "not been taken lightly".

"The shop has been a part of Helston for so long, it is hard to imagine the town without it. We are definitely sorry to see it go, but neither of us is getting any younger, and we are not in the best of health.

"Running a business like this is a lot of hard work and we just felt the time was right to sell."

Donald, a long-serving Helston councillor and former mayor of the town, added that the brothers had tried to sell the shop "as a going concern" some 12 months ago.

"We would have preferred to do that, but no-one was interested," he said. "The business has expanded so much, it has almost outgrown itself. No-one wanted to take it on, so we eventually decided to accept an offer for the property instead."

The Eddy family has traded under the same name in Helston since 1862 - opening its first shop in Church Street, before moving to Coinagehall Street in 1907. The existing shop in Meneage Street - a listed building with its familiar Art Deco frontage - was opened in 1936.

Until the 1970s, the firm was renowned as painters and decorators, completing work on properties across the county.

With the increase in DIY home decoration, the family decided to concentrate on the retail business. The shop began selling toys and gifts in the early 1900s. The toy department was further expanded in the late 1950s, when Donald came home from the RAF and John left school.

The brothers this week paid tribute to the staff and customers who had supported the firm over the years.

"The loyalty of the staff has made a major contribution to the success of the business - many of them spending all their working lives in the employment of the company," they said.

"We would also like to thank all our customers, many of whom with their families going back through the generations. It has been a pleasure to serve so many good and loyal customers from both town and country."

Steven Jenkin, from Philip Martin estate agents in Truro, has been handling the sale of the property.

Speaking to the Packet on Monday, he said the deal had not yet been finalised, although he was hopeful contracts would be exchanged "imminently".

He had been dealing with an agent in London and did not know who the buyer was or what they planned to do with the building.