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A shop in Sherwood is closing down this weekend - as the owners say they don't feel safe operating in that part of Nottingham.

Highbury Design, in Mansfield Road, is holding a closing down sale on Saturday at its store in Mansfield Road - before shutting up shop and moving all operations to their Arnold store.

But joint owner Nicholas Flynn, 67, says the decision has been taken to leave after 18 months not due to poor trading at the soft furnishings store - but because of safety concerns.

He says although 99 percent of Sherwood people are "great citizens" incidents have included distraction burglaries, drunken customers having to be escorted out of the store by police, and being punched in the face outside his shop.

He said: "We've been going 30 years now in Arnold and we opened a shop in Sherwood 18 months ago.

"It's been good to be honest, but we can't have two people there with enough stuff to do but it's not safe to have one person on their own.

"Sherwood people themselves are lovely, and we're very busy.

"But we've had distraction burglaries - we had a guy who went around the store saying he'd just got of of jail and asking if we had cash on the premises.

"We've had drunks coming in, one guy wouldn't leave and the police had to come and take him away. I was attacked in the street outside, a bloke literally punched me for no reason.

"There's been lots of incidents, but we've never had a day's problem in Arnold."

Nottingham City Council ward councillor Jane Urquhart said: "We've seen a really big change in Sherwood shopping area in the last few years, with lots of stores coming in, cafes and restaurants.

"We're really having a renaissance in the area, with long standing established traders alongside newer traders.

"This is disappointing news and something I would want to understand more about. Keeping the shopping area vibrant is one of our priorities as ward councillors. I do want to learn from their experience and learn what we can do."

Neighbourhood Inspector Christine Busuttil, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Sherwood remains a very vibrant and busy area with a lot going on, something that we're really proud of.

“We regularly keep an eye on crime trends and review policing in the area to ensure that we are keeping local people safe to the best of our ability and I am confident that we are doing this in Sherwood.

“We work with a number of our partners and make changes wherever we can to try and ensure that people feel secure in their surroundings. This method has seen CCTV updated and improved in the area over recent months by working together with the local Neighbourhood Watch.

“We take every crime report seriously and investigate them fully, and I would urge anyone with any specific problems to get in touch with us and we will do our best to help. Our local neighbourhood teams and beat teams regularly patrol the area and you can always give us a call and get through to us on 101."