Residents have been reminiscing about a beloved local sweet shop which shut its doors over 20 years ago.

Goatcher's, in Down Terrace, Brighton, has been empty since 2001 despite the fact the rest of the property is used as a home.

However, plans have now been approved to turn the ground floor retail space into a living area.

READ MORE: 'It's becoming a ghost town': Residents fear for 'sad town' after M&S closure news

This means the official last link to the former sweet shop will be gone, including the shop sign.

Since these plans were revealed, residents have shared on Facebook their fond memories of the shop from their childhoods when it was known as "Anne's" which was the name of the owner.

James Fry said: "No one local ever called it that growing up, you would always say you were going to Anne's or Anne's sweet shop.

"She always gave out a small bag of sweets on Halloween too."

Jamie Aston said: "I'd kind of forgotten this place ever existed.

"I grew up on Freshfield just round the corner, this was my sweetie shop between home and school, I once spent my £1 swimming money on 10 bags of salt and vinegar chip sticks and pretended I'd lost it."

Another resident who visited the shop growing up was Julie Anderson.

She said: "I used to love going in there picking out lots of penny sweets on my way home from St Luke's School, that was in the 70s."

Dawn Barrow, who also visited the shop back in her school days, said: "I miss Anne’s shop, always used to go there after school.

"So sad that it closed in the first place."

As well as reminiscing on their visits to the shop in the 70s, 80s and 90s, residents also shared some deals that the independent store used to offer, including 25p sweets on a Friday.

Someone else said that they got 25 per cent off "broken candy sticks" on their way to school.

Despite the fact the shop has been closed for years, plenty of people who grew up when it was open referred to it as the "best sweet shop", including Richard Macandrew.

He said: "Good old Anne’s with her old blue Vauxhall Astra parked outside, was the best sweet shop ever."

Tracy Smith said: "No shop like that anymore.

"She would stand over the penny sweets while you pick what you wanted and she put them in a bag counting them as she went, definitely the best shop."