WHEN a young toolmaker failed to get planning permission to use a town centre building as a workshop and opened a hardware store instead, little did he realise what it would lead to.

Peter Shock quit a £300 a week job to start the new Leominster business. He took just £3 on his first day, but trade picked up and the rest is history.

Kingsland-born Peter became one of the area's most successful businessmen and his shop, Shock Supplies, became a Leominster institution.

It was the store where you could get that little metal widget that you couldn't find elsewhere, plus buckets, bowls, nails, nuts, bolts, screws and all the rest.

The old Victorian Adult School, always crammed with goods - things even hung from the ceiling - took on a parish pump atmosphere. People loved to stop and chat.

Disaster struck 10 years ago when a thief crashed a stolen bus into the Burgess Street store causing huge damage to the building and stock. The wreckage was pictured on the TV news.

Now 'the shop which survived the bus', as it will forever be remembered, is due to close in a matter of weeks. Peter, 55, and his 81-year-old mum Topsy, who serves at the till, are shutting up shop after 25 years. They will miss the friendship of customers and are sad at the prospect.

"We've had a wonderful run, but it's time for a change. I am not getting any younger," said Peter, who is often 'on the road' buying wholesale goods.

The grandfather, who lives with his wife, Margaret, at Eyton, is to concentrate on other business interests.

A closing-down sale is in progress. The building has been sold and is to be occupied by another local business. Jazz women's hairdressing salon will be moving from smaller premises in Burgess Street in about four months.