A trailblazing shop which catered for cross-dressers has fallen victim to the recession.

Lacies, which led the way for the transgender and transvestite communities in Brighton and Hove, is to close.

Pioneering owner Sue Sheppard will sell her last set of padded bras at the store in Portland Road, Hove, tomorrow.

Ms Sheppard, 48, herself a post-op transsexual, has run the shop which attracts customers from as far away as Wales, for eight years.

The former organiser of the annual Ms TransGender Brighton contest blames high property prices and rents for the closure.