Cooper's Estate Agents in Spalding Road has been forced to cease trading after it was struggling to cope with economic conditions which have seen house prices plummet.

Owner Sue Cooper said: "We have ceased trading because of the market and the way it is at the moment.

"I think there may be a few more estate agents that follow me. I hope not, for their sakes, but it is a tough time."

The UK's biggest mortgage lender the Halifax recently announced a fall in house prices of 1.3 per cent for April on top of a 2.5 per cent drop in March.

Prices are said to be falling by around £500 a week and the average home is worth around £8,000 less now than it was at the beginning of the year.

The bleak economic picture was one of the factors that caused Spalding firm DGM Properties to go into administration last month.

The downturn also caused Pinchbeck developer Allison Homes to axe 15 jobs in January and forced Spalding estate agent Eleys to shut down last summer.