THE owner of Burnley’s last independent book shop has urged readers to support small retailers in the face of supermarket competition.

Gary Kingdon, of Badger Books, is preparing to shut the doors on his Keirby Walk premises after more than 20 years.

And while he is in advanced talks about relocating to another location in Burnley, he remains anxious about the prospects for similar ventures.

He said: “We are having problems for the same reasons as the larger chains have been experiencing recently.

“Supermarkets are selling books and while their range is only limited, and it’s around 0.5 per cent of their total stock, they can afford to sell them for little or no profit.

“The internet is also having an effect. On sites like Amazon they can offer a wide range of books.”

The store is renowned for supporting local authors, including historians like Roger Frost and Jack Nadin, who stage launches there.

“People out there need to be supporting their local book seller or face losing us,” said Mr Kingdon.

He said independent retailers can often employ their knowledge and years of experience in tracking down hard-to-find or rare volumes or textbooks.

The number of independent booksellers remaining in East Lancashire is now comparatively low.

But Colne Bookshop, in the town’s Church Street, which opened in the past couple of years, has bucked the trend, arranging ‘meet-the-author’ nights and haiku poetry classes.