ANOTHER business in Carlisle city centre has announced that it's selling-up.

The owner of the Pig in the Poke sandwich shop, on English Street, has put the business up for sale, and a sign has recently appeared in the window.

The store is currently closed.

It follows a string of businesses that have shut their doors in the city in the wake of the lockdown.

Michael Dodgson, from Blackpool, took over the shop at the end of January.

He said falling footfall in the city centre, caused by covid-19, was one of the reasons for selling.

Michael bought the shop as a family concern but found that increasing work commitments, with his job, working for Sky, made it unviable.

He said: "I opened at the end of January and work let me have a bit of time off to get it up and running but then covid-19 happened.

"When I was in the shop on my days off there was no one in town because of the coronavirus so the shop was competing for a lot less people."

"I'm selling it as a going concern."

He added however that there are people. already interested in taking over the business in the near future.

The shop's sale follows numerous other stores in the city centre and throughout the county which have closed in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

These include The Little Gin Shop, on Lowther Street, the Pompeii Steakhouse, on Abbey Street, Monsoon Accessorise, on Scotch Street.

In July the owners of the Little Gin Shop, Daniel White and Jack Lee, put out a statement on Facebook.

They said: "It's with a heavy heart that we announce that our lease on the shop has now ended and with the pandemic and the economic uncertainties that come with it going forward, we just could not justify renewing the lease."

Recently the city council vowed to do all it can to help the city centre through the economic uncertainty.

And Councillor Paul Nedved, portfolio holder for Economy, Enterprise and Housing, said it was “sad to see” businesses these go.

He however pointed to a raft of initiatives like the Towns Fund, where Carlisle was confirmed as one of the 100 towns across the country shortlisted to secure up to £25 million through a Town Deal for Carlisle that will outline regeneration projects.