Three card shops in East Anglia - including a long-established one in Dereham - have shut suddenly after a company went into liquidation.

Three card shops in East Anglia - including a long-established one in Dereham - have shut suddenly after a franchise went into liquidation.

The unit in the Nelson Place precinct has been a card shop for more than 40 years and run as a Hallmark franchise by Felixstowe-based businessman Peter Whiteman for about two and a half years.

Six staff have lost their jobs following its closure. The other Hallmark shops to close are at Felixstowe and Woodbridge, but the closure does not affect other Hallmark stores.

The Dereham staff – Heather Barnard, Vicky Pearce, Pat Tabor, Sandra Poore, Amanda Nolan and Julie Cronin – were all told last week about the sudden closure and the loss of their jobs.

Mrs Barnard – who has worked at the shop for about 35 years – said it had been a shock and they wanted to thank the customers for their loyalty.

The shop had a sale a few weeks ago and at the time some customers had asked if it was a closing down sale.

Mrs Barnard said the staff wanted to reassure them that they had said at the time it was not closing down in good faith.

Mr Whiteman, owner of the Dereham, Felixstowe and Woodbridge stores, blamed the demise of his business on the loss of customers in the Felixstowe shop - which employed 21 people - which was in a controversial �2.8m shared space scheme.

He said: 'The reason the company has gone into liquidation is because of the downturn in the Felixstowe store - which we have seen since the roadworks started in 2010.

'I would accept that there's a recession but the recession is nationwide not just a Felixstowe issue - the other stores were level on last year.'