The January closure will leave Portadown without a general bookshop after Eason also closed their outlet in the Meadows Shopping Centre earlier this year.

"As the store is coming to the end of its lease the company took this opportunity to review its operations," said Mr Gibson.

"Contributing to the decision to close the store at this time are a number of factors including high occupational costs such as rent and rates and the increasing development of large-scale supermarkets and
retail parks on stand-alone sites.

"The company will make every effort to relocate staff to other locations.

"Eason will continue to operate 15 stores in Northern Ireland."
Portadown-based author, Eirin Thompson, whose second novel, 'The Undercover Mother', has just been published in paperback form, expressed her dismay at the news.

"When I came to live in Portadown 17 years ago, I was a bit surprised to discover that it didn't have a real bookshop," she said. "The two Eason's stores which subsequently opened might not have had the most extensive stock, but at least you could pop in for new releases and best-sellers. It's depressing to think that a town this size hasn't even been able to sustain that.

"Rushmere still has a reasonable-sized Eason's, but it seems a shame that reading customers are forced out-of-town instead of being able to shop in Portadown town centre. Once again, Rushmere's gain is our loss and it's bound to do our high street further harm.

"From a personal point of view, I'm sorry that while I can write a book in Portadown, there's soon going to be nowhere to sell it here."