St Giles Shopping Centre in Elgin is set to close this month.

The Northern Scot understands that businesses within the centre have now been contacted to tell them they must vacate the premises by January 20.

The news follows reports in November that Moray Council is taking legal action to retrieve hundreds of thousands of pounds in unpaid non-domestic rates.

That figure is thought to be in the region of £750,000 and to have built up over several years.

The centre currently contains Argos, Ashers Bakery, EE, Ramsdens, Subway, Vodafone, Waterstones and WH Smith.

Gordon and MacPhail is also temporarily renting a unit until the whisky specialist’s building on South Street is renovated.

The centre, which opened in 1991, also has several empty units, including those once occupied by Monsoon, Mountain Warehouse and Superdrug.

Upland Developments, the Aviemore-based owners of the centre, have been contacted for comment.

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