CLINTON Cards in Nailsea has shut after it was one of 122 stores not bought out by an American firm.

The store, in Crown Glass Shopping Centre, looked to have been saved last month as the company sought to extend its lease. But the shop closed on Saturday, just 24 hours after it was publically announced it was to go.

Clinton Cards shops in Nailsea and The Triangle, Clevedon, which is also being shut, were not part of the 397 stores bought by American Greetings Corporation earlier this month.

The high street chain was placed into administration in May and its trading shares suspended, after banks sold the company’s �35million of debt to America Greetings Corporation.

Clinton Cards is the latest high-profile closure to hit Nailsea in recent months. Ten units now are empty in the shopping centre, including the former Peacocks store, which closed in February.