Fenwick has closed all its shops until further notice amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The brand has a store in Colchester High Street. 

In a email to customers the firm said: "As a family business, the health and wellbeing of our customers, our teams and our local communities is always close to our heart and in these times of great uncertainty we need to do the right thing for them by mitigating the potential spread of the coronavirus.

"We have therefore taken the very difficult decision to temporarily close all Fenwick stores to the public from 6pm on Thursday March 19 until further notice.

"You, our customers, are exceptional and we know you will understand that we have not taken this approach lightly.

"The doors of Fenwick have been open to customers for almost 140 years - it goes against everything in our nature to close them.

"But these aren't normal times and we find ourselves in the unique situation where shutting our doors, for the time being, is the right thing to do for our customers, our colleagues and our communities."