CRIPPLING business rates have claimed another Romsey shop. Bosses at Kids ‘N’ Stuff in Latimer Street are closing the business next month because of high running costs.

Nigel Sadler who runs the business with wife Inger-Lise and their daughter Vicky Cox, said closing the business was a tough decision to take but there was no alternative.

“We thought long and hard about this, but with rising costs and overheads such as electricity and very high business rates, we’ve been left with no choice. We are fighting a losing battle,” said Mr Sadler, who added: “Business rates in the Test Valley seem very high to me. I’ve looked at business rates elsewhere and they are not as high as Test Valley’s.”

The Sadler family moved into their present premises a year ago this month. Kids and Stuff was previously in Love Lane and the Sadlers had a stall at Romsey Market.

“Our business rates are £760 a month and we don’t even get our bins emptied for that. Basically it’s the business rates that have killed us. It’s an excessive amount of money to find each month. Looking down the high street (The Hundred), there are a lot of empty shops coming onto the market. We’ve got no problem with the amount of rent we pay.

“You could not wish for a nicer landlord than Gary Webb and our customers have been very loyal. We’ve got a good volume of customers, but the amount spent had dropped off and I put this down to the recession,” concluded Nigel, who has yet to decide what happens after the shop closes on June 8.

Borough cabinet spokesman for economics, Peter Giddings, pointed out that business rates were not Test Valley’s responsibility.

“The amount of rates he pays is not our fault. We just collect business rates for the Government, which determines the rateable value and the rate in the pound,” said Mr Giddings, who suggested that Mr Sadler contacted the Valuation Office in Southampton to see if his shop’s value was in line with others in the area.

Mr Giddings also added that TVBC may be able to help him via the authority’s Small Business Rate Relief and Hardship Relief Schemes.