A POPULAR art gallery will close to the public after a successful 18-month run, it has been announced.

The JKB Designs Art Gallery will shut its doors at the end of April after running in the former Harrison Gibson department store in Ilford High Road for the last year and a half.

It was only intended to open for six months but this was extended due to popular demand.

The gallery's lease expires in May, as the store will shut for refurbishment, and the team are currently putting together a final exhibition which includes samples of children's work on the them of St George's Day, which falls on April 23.

The gallery runs a series of children's drop-in events, where youngsters can create greetings cards and make scrapbook pages, and the gallery has also provided free exhibition space for local artists, staging performances, and other events for the Redbridge community.

The gallery will close on Friday April 30.