Soho loses record shop Vinyl Junkies

One of the last record shops in Soho, Vinyl Junkies, is to close after going into administration.

Owners of the Berwick Street shop, a favourite with DJs such as Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, Carl Craig and Groove Armada, blamed rising rent, business rates and the congestion charge.

The street once had the biggest number of record shops in Britain and was known as the Golden Mile of Vinyl.

Shop owner John-Paul Cuesta-Vayon estimates that when the shop closes he will have to put 20,000 specialist records into storage.

"Maintaining a business here has become impossible. The overheads are massive. Rent now costs around £35,000 a year, business rates are spiralling and the constant roadworks and congestion charges are driving visitors away," he said.

Graham Jones, author of Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops?, said record companies are to blame.

"Many record stores have simply lost confidence that the record companies are looking out for them," he said.

"Leases are getting longer, and, when a store's rent is coming up for renewal, proprietors have to be certain that their shop is still going to be there in a couple of years' time. Too many now are unwilling to take that risk."