THE announcement by the owner of a popular alternative boutique that she may be forced to shut up shop has been met with an outpouring of support.

Beryl Hankin has run Guru, in Darlington town centre, for almost 45 years.

She said she has been "overwhelmed by love" after announcing on Facebook that the business faces an uncertain future.

With the lease on its Blackwellgate premises having expired, Mrs Hankin said the business needed a "miracle" to continue in its present form.

Problems faced by Guru – and other independent shops – include falling takings and never-ending bills.

Within minutes of posting the news on Friday (May 29) evening, Mrs Hankin began to receive messages of support from friends and customers.

She wrote: "We would love to stay in our lovely Harry Potter-type shop.

"In order to try and do this we are going to have one last push at increasing sales sufficiently to carry us over until after Christmas when work [on the multi-storey car park in nearby Beaumont Street] should be complete and hopefully things might change for the better.

"Things will have to change for us in a big way if we are going to be able to carry on being here for our friends in the town that we love."

The hashtag #SaveGuru was popular on both Facebook and Twitter and social media fizzed with ideas of how to help the business.

Plans to hold events to benefit one of Darlington's most enduring independent businesses are still to be finalised.

Suggestions have included fundraising raffles, coffee mornings and a benefit gig.

Mrs Hankin has repeatedly called on Darlington Borough Council to do more to help independent traders and narrowly missed out on being elected onto the council at the local elections on May 7.

She said: "I have been overwhelmed by love and very touched by the response.

"Whether it will be the saving of us or not, I will never forget all those genuine responses, which are still pouring in.

"This is so lovely of people and yes we need help now, but when/if we can get back on our feet, then we must carry this on and share these good vibes with others.

"I guess we must have done something right to elicit this kind of response. One girl described her first visit to our shop as a rite of passage.

"We don't measure success in terms of money, but in instinctively doing something that feels right. Goodwill is something money cannot buy."