Ref. 28800-24THE owner of one of Swindon's oldest cycle shops has reached the end of the road.

John Mitchell, 56, who owns Express Cycles, in Manchester Road, has decided to wind down the business after 36 years of trading during which time he believes he has sold about 200,000 bikes.

Mr Mitchell, who is helped by his daughters Hannah, 24, and Rebecca, 30, says now is the time to close the shop and will shut the doors for the final time on Thursday.

He is closing because he wants to spend more time with his family, although he had hoped to pass it on to one of his sons Jonathan, 31, or Simon, 30, but they work with computers.

He said: "It would have been nice to pass it on to the family, but I believe the business needs a man to run it, because of the physical work involved."

The sisters now plan to set up in business on their own with a mobile hair extension firm called Big Head.

Mr Mitchell said the decision to close was helped by a robbery three years ago, which saw him lose money.

"We never really recovered from that," he said.

"The shop was boarded up for two months while we carried out major repairs. It caused a lot of disruption and cost us a great deal."

Mr Mitchell said he was especially upset by the incident because he had always tried to promote a Christian ethos in the shop, which has the message "Jesus Christ Is Lord" on an outside wall.

He believes prostitutes in the area should take note of the message.

He said: "I am a Christian and the shop reflects Christian values. We believe in offering an honest, high- quality, value for money service.

"We have never forgotten that people are far more important than money.

"Above all, we have been true to our customers."

Many of the customers, who now seek to buy bikes for their children, can remember calling into the shop when they were little to pick their first bike.

Mr Mitchell says he can remember the days when he used to sell children's bikes for under £10 and adults' bikes for under £20.

He said: "Bikes have certainly come a long way in recent decades from the classic Raleigh Chopper in the 1970s to the 1980s BMXs to the mountain bike.

"We're now seeing something of a cycle with BMXs proving popular again. Prices, too, are dropping. They started very expensively but now they are dropping heavily."

Despite the hard work and long hours, Mr Mitchell, who is planning to develop an on-line shop selling bikes over the internet, admits he will miss opening the shop each day. "Nearly 40 years is a long time to be in business and I am a little sad to be closing," he said.

"Customers have told me that they are sorry to see it close but times change.

"It's been hard work and it's felt like a life sentence at times, but mostly I have enjoyed it."

Mr Mitchell bought the firm from John Nunan on November 20, 1967. The then-owner had run the business for 17 years.

In 1970, Mr Mitchell bought the whole property from Swindon Poster Advertising. He now plans to convert the shop into three smaller shops and eight flats.

Kevin Shoesmith