A CHARITY shop and pregnancy care centre in Wisbech will close its doors for the final time later this month, after 17 years trading. The Baby Shop was the first in the country to raise money for the national charity LIFE, a care and housing trust. Howev

A CHARITY shop and pregnancy care centre in Wisbech will close its doors for the final time later this month, after 17 years' trading.

The Baby Shop was the first in the country to raise money for the national charity LIFE, a care and housing trust.

However, the Hill Street shop is now holding a half-price sale of stock in the run-up to its closure on June 14.

The shop was run by the Wisbech and West Norfolk LIFE Group, a branch of the national charity.

It will close alongside the retirement of the branch's secretary Victoria Gillick and voluntary caring officer Elizabeth Hoey, both pregnancy counsellors and shop helpers.

Mrs Gillick said: "June 14 is going to be a sad day. A lot of people have said they are stunned that the shop will not be here any more."

The Baby Shop was opened in Hill Street in 1991 by North East Cambs MP Malcolm Moss, and moved into its current shop a few yards down the road in 2000.

During the last 17 years the shop's counsellors have provided free pregnancy testing and advice to more than 3,500 women, while the shop has provided a life-line to hard-pressed families and an outlet for those wanting to recycle clothes and equipment.

Chairman of the Fenland LIFE group, Dolores McKenna, said: "The shop will be sadly missed by so many people, including those who so kindly volunteered their help during the years. We cannot thank them warmly enough."

As a parting gift to the national body, the Baby Shop has donated £9,000 to LIFE's three Zoe's Place hospices in Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Leamington Spa. They provide expert home-from-home care for babies with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions.