Toddington Garden Centre in Gloucestershire closed last Tuesday after the landlords – the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway railway – declined to renew its lease.

A final Facebook post by joint owners, husband and wife Mark and Liz Tsakarisianos, announced: “We are now closed after 45 years. We would like to say a very big thank you to our amazing staff and customers and thank you for all the support you have given us.”

The site is owned by GWR, who say they need it to add new retail restaurant and parking facilities to their headquarters next door.

A spokeswoman for the garden centre, which the owners say is a thriving business, said the closure would lead to the loss of about eight part-time jobs. However, the family’s other business, Gotherington Nurseries, about 6 miles away, will continue to operate.

The spokesman added: “There’s a lot of sadness. It was leased [to us] by GWR and they wanted the site back so there wasn’t much we could do about it. We’ve got a thriving business here. We assumed that we would just renew the lease or have a shorter one.

 “We’re devastated, absolutely. It’s been a fantastic place to work. We’re really sad and so are the customers.”

GWR’s Ian Crowder said: “We are sorry that the garden centre will close. We ended the 10-year lease after a lot of deliberation and a heavy heart as we are aware that the garden centre is something of an attraction for visitors to the railway. “We gave the garden centre plenty of notice and opportunities to talk to us over recent months.

“The site is needed for expansion of our facilities at Toddington, which is the railway’s headquarters. It will be used solely to expand and improve the experience for visitors to our railway.

“It has been a long-term intention to eventually re-use this space and the lease coming to an end provides that opportunity.”

The opening of GWR’s Broadway station last year, which re-linked the village by rail with Cheltenham 14 miles to the south, via Toddington, brought a 44% increase in passenger numbers.