Nottingham Lace Centre managers announced last month that they plan to wind up the shop and heritage centre.

The Lace Centre, in Castle Road, first opened in 1980 and over the years it has attracted customers from across the world interested in Nottingham's lace industry.

It is due to close in April, blaming a lack of demand for lace and falling visitor numbers.

In a statement, the directors say the closure is being considered due to falling sales "in spite of strenuous efforts" by staff. But supporters say Nottingham's historic link with lace will fade if the city's last remaining shop dedicated to the industry closes.

Richard Granger, chairman of Nottingham Lace Centre Ltd's board of directors, said: "We have never been an enormous profit-making business. We have always been here to extol the virtues of Nottingham lace.

"Over the last couple of months the business has been losing money. We have been looking at the long-term and would prefer to wind up the business in an orderly manner rather than hang on and hope for the best. We cannot run a business on wishful thinking."

There is also a market stall in the Victoria Centre called the Nottingham Lace Centre – but this is not connected to the visitor attraction and will continue to run.