END OF THE AFFAIR: Travel Bookshop closes despite spirited efforts to save it

The Notting Hill bookshop made famous by a bumbling Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill has closed. Many admirers visiting the Travel Bookshop over the weekend found the doors firmly locked with a notice stuck on the door reading: 'BOOKSHOP CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE'. The bookshop formed the backdrop for the romantic comedy starring Grant and Julia Roberts and has become one of London's favourite tourist destinations. The shop's closure is bound to disappoint many local celebrities and writers who had vowed to save it. One of them, poet and journalist, Olivia Cole, spoke of their efforts on BBC Radio Four's The World This Weekend. They were willing  to keep the shop open by staffing it for free but it seems all their goodwill came to nought.

The bookshop's owner Simon Gaul said to be based in France has been elusive as well as its agent Phillip Roberts who never replied any of WLT's emails. They both seemed to have willfully condemned the much-loved bookshop to its final fate. The shop ceased trading after a two-week clearance sale and on an optimistic note in a tweet to its numerous followers: "Hello everyone! 2 week closing down sale starts today. Sad days but we'll be here with smiles on our faces! Thanks for all your messages! xx."

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