BATTLING cobbler Tony Martin is closing his shop because of falling trade and a hefty rates bill.

Mr Martin, who has received national publicity for his one-man campaign against local bureaucracy, will shut down on Saturday, August 4.

The family business has operated in Claypath since 1854, but Mr Martin, of North Shields, said takings have plunged in recent years.

"Ten years ago there were four people working here, but since the post office closed and yellow lines were put outside the shop two years ago the trade has gone," he said.

"Claypath, like other parts of the city, is dying. I can tell you what the shop will become - an estate agents.

"I'm hoping to get a place in one of the stores in the city. If I can't, people will be able to leave their shoes at the newsagents down the road and I'll collect them.''

In April, Mr Martin, 37, warned city magistrates he would have to close when they granted Durham City Council a liability order for a £1,580 unpaid business rates bill.

He turned his shop window - opposite Labour MP Gerry Steinberg's office - into a noticeboard with allegations about local bureaucracy. In the county council elections he finished 444 votes behind Labour in the Gilesgate division