THE owner of one of Stockton's oldest businesses has blamed a town centre revamp for forcing him to quit town.

Maddox pet and animal food shop has relocated after almost 100 years of trading.

Simon Pocklington, the owner of the store, blamed the pedestrianisation of large parts of the town centre for driving trade elsewhere.

He said he had kept the Maddox Stores business, which has operated in Stockton since 1908, in the town for as long as possible.

However, he said the pedestrianisation, which stopped private vehicles entering Stockton High Street, meant farmers and pet owners could not drive to his Silver Street store.

Mr Pockington said: "The fact is people just cannot get to us any more because they cannot drive here.

"They have forced shoppers to out-of-town venues. I have seen all the big new plans for the town, but it is all too little, too late.

"It is sad because we have a very long history with the town and I do not know of a shop that was here longer than us.

"I have a picture on my wall of firemen putting out a fire at an early mill we had, behind Silver Street, from 1918. But in the end, we had no choice but to leave."

Maddox's, which is best know for selling horse feed these days, has moved to Gooseberry Farm, at the nearby village of Elton.

No one was available from Stockton Borough Council for comment yesterday.

However, the authority can point to its £80m plans to rejuvinate the town centre, which were unveiled last year.

The departure of Maddox pet and animal food shop from Stockton also ends the last link to the once-thriving corn and seed milling industry in the town.

Maddox Stores had the last mill in Stockton, which closed in the mid 1980s.

The closure of the West Row animal feed plant was the end of an industry around Stockton that dated back more than 900 years.

The last of the Maddox family, the original owners of the business, died more than 30 years ago