Traders and their customers said an emotional goodbye as a shopping centre closed its doors for the last time.

More than 20 businesses at the InShops centre in High Street, Wealdstone, were forced to close yesterday their licence was terminated.

Shopkeepers slashed their prices in a bid to sell as much merchendise as possible before they were forced to vacate their units by 4pm.

Jenny Lawrence-Ricketts, who has run Jenny’s Cards for four years, said: “I just want to thank everyone who supported us.

“This is really sad for us because we fought so hard and I think we are the only InShops centre to get as far as we did.”

In July 2013, shopkeepers were given just four days to close their businesses down, but were able to keep the centre open for an extra six months after taking legal action.

This weekend marked the end of a long struggle to keep the centre open. Vish Alavani, who runs the Harrow Community Enterprise to help people in financial difficulty, said it was still a shock to be leaving.

He said: “For some people this is their livelihood and they are losing it.

“I have been here for more than a year and it’s a shock because the rent for this place is £4,000 for each unit and we thought it must be making a profit.

“Losing this place is going to affect the confidence of the traders and you need confidence to succeed.”

The traders thanked the MP for Harrow East, Bob Blackman, London Assembly Member Navin Shah and local councillor Phillip O’Dell for their efforts.

On January 23, InShops announced the company was going to liquidation and accountancy firm KPMG was appointed to oversee the process.