A CARPET shop is closing today after 36 years in business.

Owner Richard Lloyd has sold Coastway Carpets in South Coast Road, Peacehaven.

The 67-year-old is retiring after attending four funerals of friends his age this year and losing his younger brother to cystic fibrosis.

He said: “It has made me think ‘enough is enough’. I want to be able to enjoy my retirement while I can.

“My wife Hazel and I plan to visit relatives in Australia and travel a bit more. It was always difficult to take holidays running a shop.

Mr Lloyd said the shop has been granted planning permission to become two shops, with flats at the back and above.

It has now been sold to a property developer based in London. Unsold stock will be put in storage and sold online.

Mr Lloyd started out in retail in 1963 in Haywards Heath before moving to Peacehaven in the 1970s to set up his own business.