HE HAS pierced some rather unusual body parts over the years, but now the owner of an Andover shop has decided to close for good after eight years in the town.

Pinz N Needlez, which was based at the Commercial Centre, in Picket Piece, had its final day of trading on December 6.

The owner, known as Spider, said it was a difficult decision to make, but said he needed a more reliable income to support his family.

The father-of-two told the Advertiser: “The main reason is I have a mortgage and family and money wasn’t constant so I had one really good week and one really bad week. Plus, insurance and rent and everything was going up and I didn’t put my prices up so I was chasing all the time.”

He added: “It took a long time for me to decide and make the decision, I will miss the job and people. But it comes down to money and security.”

The 43-year-old, who used to have a shop in the town centre for four years before relocating because the rent was too high, offered laser removal as part of his business and said: “It was fun to do. I had all sorts of things, lots of swear words, you would be surprised how many people had swear words tattooed on them. It was usually old tattoos that had been there for so long they looked like a splodge and lots of homemade tattoos which people had done after having a few drinks.”

He believes the most painful body part to pierce is a man’s nipple, and said the most memorable piercing was when a woman fainted, adding: “It will be the people I met and the stories they told that I will miss the most. A lot of people are vulnerable and scared when they see me and they loved to talk. I will miss the people.”

Spider said he has been overwhelmed by the comments from customers since he announced the studio would close, saying: “I haven’t cried since I was nine years old and I got choked up and lots of people brought me goodbye presents. It’s been a busy last week in the studio.”

The dad decided to set up the business after taking voluntary redundancy from a job at Twinings, explaining: “I didn’t want to be stuck there forever so I took a training course to be a piercer and then took a laser removal course. I wanted to do something different.”

He is now going to work as a line manager at Rich’s global food supplier.