A BELOVED Oxford art gallery will close its doors forever at the end of the week.

Art Jericho, which has provided 'fantastic' opportunities to young and alternative artists for nearly a decade, will close on Friday.

The owner of the ageing King Street building, tucked away off Walton Street, is planning a major renovation.

Jenny Blyth, who has curated shows at the gallery since 2009, said the owner had offered her first dibs on the new, renovated space, but she said she had decided it would have lower light levels and not be suitable as a gallery.

The mother-of-two, who lives in Oxford, said: "There are various reasons it won't be right for Art Jericho anymore and that is sad.

"We have had nearly 100 exhibitions here in the past eight years and it has been a terrific platform for artists from Oxford and further afield.

"We have had a fantastic audience, a lot of events and gigs; dancing and poetry and book launches."

Art Jericho was founded by Patricia Baker Cassidy in 2009 and Ms Blyth started putting on shows there soon after.

Ms Blyth, who was born in Oxford and grew up in Jack Straw's Lane in Headington, studied law at London South Bank University.

She took a dramatic career turn in her late 20s and moved into art, joining the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea where she stayed for 12 years.

After having two children she decided to return to Oxford to bring them up in 2003, and started curating shows at Art Jericho shortly afterwards.

She took on the lease in 2014.

Wantage painter Stuart Roper, who exhibited there in January, said it was a great shame to see the gallery go.

He said: "Jenny is a really lovely person and very knowledgeable.

"She has a terrific eye for hanging an exhibition which as an artist you appreciate.

"I met a lot of artists at my show who had a great fondness for the place."

Esther Lafferty, director of Oxfordshire Artweeks, described it as 'a bohemian gem of a gallery'.

She said: "For those who knew of or sought out this hidden nook and cranny, it was always been well worth it.

"It had a reputation for quality exhibitions built over nearly a decade, firstly by Patricia Baker Cassidy showing photography and printmaking in its earliest days, and more recently by Jenny Blyth who has a tremendous passion for art and bringing quality art into Oxford.

"As one of the few places doing this, it will be sorely missed by art lovers and casual visitors alike."

Ms Blyth said the owner of the building would either convert the whole thing to flats, or turn the upstairs into flats and have a commercial space on the street.

She is now contemplating whether to go hunting for a new gallery space, but said she would be glad to take a break in the new year to recharge.

The gallery's current and last show, an exhibition of circus-themed monotypes, printmaking technique chine colle and stencils by Oxford artist Carolyn Horton, is open until Friday.