BOSSES have revealed why a town centre supermarket has closed down.

Farmfoods, which was based at Witham's Newland Shopping Centre, shuts its doors for the last time on Friday, May 3.

The centre is owned by New River Retail and director Stuart Mitchell said the company is looking to broaden the range of shops it has.

He said: "We are committed to ensuring we have the right mix of retailers for shoppers within Witham and felt that having two frozen food operators was not the right thing for our customers.

"Therefore we are currently speaking to a number of alternative retailers for the space and will update in due course."

Fellow frozen food giant Iceland also has a shop at the centre.

Farmfoods confirmed the store had closed down but said it would not comment further.

Tina Townsend, chair of the Witham Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are sad to hear the news about the closure of Farmfoods.

"We wish those who have lost their jobs well in finding new positions."