IN what has been called a "major blow" to Barry's town centre, menswear shop Burton will close at the end of April.

Burton parent company Arcadia confirmed that the Holton Road store, currently the only dedicated menswear shop in Barry town centre, will cease trading on Wednesday, April 30.

When contacted, store management said that no one would be commenting on the situation at this time.

A spokesman for Arcadia said: "I can confirm that this store will cease to trade.

"We are constantly reviewing our store portfolio across the group, and leases continually expire or come up for renewal.

"We are always looking at how to shape our store portfolio, investing in flagship stores, and increasing our brands' presence on-line.

The spokesman said that attempts would be made to relocate staff from the Holton Road store.

He said: "When leases expire that we do not renew, we endeavour to re-deploy staff affected to another store within the Arcadia group as much as we can."

Barry First Group coordinator Barrie Evans, who has spoken out about the decline of Barry town centre previously, said that Burton would be a massive loss.

"It will be a major blow for the area," he said. "They're regenerating the top of Holton Road but how are they going to regenerate all the boarded up shops.

"It's becoming a no-go area. There's no quality on Holton Road anymore. There's no quality left in Barry."