Paget Dry Cleaners closed yesterday with the loss of 12 jobs according to marketing manager Khalid Wasi.

But he said clothes can still be picked up for the rest of the month. Customers including commercial contracts could continue to be served after that with a door-to-door service.

He said the industry had been in decline for years alongside the tourist industry which it was tied to, and other firms had been forced to shut, including Quality Cleaners and Coral Cleaners.

He said: "The business is consolidating."

And he predicted the industry would end up with one super plant servicing the entire Island.

Mr. Wasi said Paget Dry Cleaners' sole proprietor Amatullah Bashir had wanted to expand into a door to door service and had financial backing but the Bermuda Monetary Authority rejected her plans to form a company.

"She had been trying since November but they refused. Nobody wants to invest in a sole proprietorship," he said.

He said dry cleaning was not financially viable on its own and had to be combined with tailoring, laundry service and door to door deliveries.