The closure of a Fakenham shop will mark the third lost in the town in less than five weeks - and another could be on the horizon.

Fakenham & Wells Times: No. 8 Furniture Shop and The Interesting Shop, on the potential site of seven new dwellings PICTURE: Matthew FarmerNo. 8 Furniture Shop and The Interesting Shop, on the potential site of seven new dwellings PICTURE: Matthew Farmer (Image: Archant)

Mikey Smith, of Little Smiths lifestyle shop, said their closure was not due to lack of trade, but instead because an agreement to keep the premises could not be reached.

He said: "We would like to stay here, we have such a big following in town. We're looking at other places in Fakenham, but how long reopening takes will depend on how things go. I hope it will be three months, at the latest."

On June 27, The Interesting Shop, on Norwich Road near the town sign, ceased trading. The shop and its neighbour, No. 8 Furniture Shop, will be bulldozed and replaced by four houses and three flats if planning permission for the site they occupy is granted.

Shopkeeper Ruth Brannagan said: "It has been hard work building it up, but there's nowhere else I can go, because nowhere else is affordable."

Fakenham & Wells Times: The now vacant space held by Through the Looking Glass Interiors PICTURE: Matthew FarmerThe now vacant space held by Through the Looking Glass Interiors PICTURE: Matthew Farmer (Image: Archant)

Through the Looking Glass Interiors on Oak Street shut up shop on June 13, focusing instead on their Dereham store.

Owner Angela Lane said: "Trade slowed down over the last few months, since before Christmas, and we're not sure why. Fakenham was lovely, and there are people there I will miss a lot, but Dereham is closer to home and a better prospect."

Meanwhile, Kenny Barnes, owner of No. 8 Furniture Shop, said closure could be on the horizon.

"The trade is a sinking ship," he said, "and while we'd love to be here forever, if it doesn't work, we've got to move on. We all do other things, this isn't our main work.

"We used to heap up the furniture, because you knew somebody would come in and it would go. We've had people from Holkham Hall, places in Wells and Sheringham, but they just don't come here any more. Everything has changed now. The internet took it all."

But a new shop could open in Fakenham - planning permission for a large retail unit in Miller's Walk was granted in April, but planners remain tight-lipped on what the store will be.