DESPITE what seemed to be positive noises from the administrators brought in to find a buyer to take over Skipton's closed Keelham Farm Shop, it was not to be.

Around 100 members of staff now know the business is being wound up and they have all lost their jobs. It could not have happened at a worse time, and especially cruel after being given false hope. One can only hope they will quickly get any monies owed to them and that they will find other jobs, though in the current economic gloom, that is not going to be easy.

And, now what for the site at the entrance to Skipton? Before Keelham it was a car dealership and petrol station. It and a pair of semi detached houses went about ten years ago to be replaced by the farm shop.

Not everyone was convinced by a farm shop on the site, in fact a retail expert recommended refusal to Craven planners because of the impact on the town centre shops.

The then applicant and original joint owner Victoria Robertshaw put up a very convincing argument on what was described at the time a a 'finely balanced' decision, and permission was given. It finally opened not on Yorkshire Day 2014, but in the September and a scaled down version of what was originally approved.

So, now what for the site which for the last ten years has been established as retail, and with an enlarged car park? Unless a buyer comes forward quickly with a use for it - and we know its not viable as an ongoing business, it is going to look very shabby in a short space of time.