A jeweller’s has anounced it will close after more than a century of service to East Ham.

Since 1908, W Phillips & Co have offered custom wedding rings, pendants and secondhand jewellery to from its base at 40-42 High Street North.

But the Stanton family, who run the store, says it will shut later this year and is running a closing down sale until it runs out of stock – with offers of up to 60 per cent off.

Elliot Stanton, 44, son of owner David Stanton, 71, says he’ll be sad to say goodbye to the shop, which he’s been working in since 1993.

“We’ll be closed by the end of the year – how soon depends on how much stock we’ve got left and how quickly it sells,” he said. “If we sell up tomorrow, we finish tomorrow.”

And Elliot is concerned the closure of the shop will lead to a bland, high street of chain shops in East Ham.

“If you go into a suit shop and buy something off the rail it’s not the same as getting it bespoke,” he said. “A lot of our business over the years has been centred around people looking for something a bit different.

“A lot of people are sad to see it go – we’ve had a lot of people coming in quite upset.

“It’s kind of a landmark – it’s always been the same since the war.

“And, being an independent business, we’ve always managed to offer a more personal service.

“We’ve got nine or 10 betting shops up the road here, far too many chicken shops and there’s only a couple of businesses that have been around as long as us.”

Lloyd Johnson, chairman of Newham Chamber of Commerce, shares Elliot’s concerns about the number of betting shops in the area, but added the high street would inevitably change according to demand.

“East Ham high street is a very different place to when I was a child,” he said. “My biggest concern is the number of betting shops but they wouldn’t be there if people weren’t using them.

“Businesses have to change to meet the demands of consumers.

“With demographics changing in Newham, there’s so many different factors you have to consider.”

The shop was established 107 years ago by the Phillips family, who ran it for three generations before David stepped in in 1978.

Elliot says his dad will lose a big part of his life when the shop shuts.

“It’s been in our family since 1978,” he said. “It’s sad for dad because he’s spent most of his working life in the trade and a massive chunk of it here.”