A shoe shop which has been trading in Eastbourne town centre since 1880 looks set to close with the loss of 15 jobs.

Fears over the future of town centre trade were raised as managers at Russell & Bromley announced the shop was being forced to close due to a decline in sales.

The store first opened its doors 121 years ago at premises in Seaside Road before moving to Terminus Road.

Russell & Bromley is the latest in a string of stores to pull out of the shopping precinct due to flagging trade and high business rates.

Recent closures include Mr Bean Coffee Shop and clothes store Zowie. Index has moved into the Arndale Shopping Centre with Next set to follow its lead by moving into part of the old C&A store, leaving two more empty premises.

The old Burton site also remains empty along with the Continental Corner Patisserie and London Fashion UK Ltd.

But Elliott Cairnes, town centre manager, says business is good and blames estate agents for letting the shops to the wrong kind of businesses.

He said: "There's not a problem with the shops but with the agents handling them. They choose stores which may lower the standard of the town centre and therefore affect the trade of neighbouring stores.

"What we need is good fashion shops for women, not stores like bargain pound stores, in order to stop the most affluent half of Eastbourne's population going to Brighton or Tunbridge Wells to shop.

"Trade is actually very, very good. Over Easter one of the major stores reported takings were 36 per cent up on previous years and another achieved its highest target so trade in Eastbourne is extremely good."

A spokesman for the council said the empty shops in Terminus Road provided exciting new opportunities for retailers, and did not represent a decline in trade.

He said: "Discussions are underway with a range of top high street retailers about the opportunities that now exist in Eastbourne. Town centre shoppers can look forward to some welcome additions to the retail offer in the near future."

Graham Marsden, leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said: "Eastbourne maintains a quality range of top retailers. The Next expansion is great news and is indicative of the ever-increasing volume of shoppers in the town."