THE end is nigh for Poole Pottery's Sopers Lane factory, which seems set to fire its last pot as early as next week.

But new owner Lifestyle is no nearer to finding a site to house its proposed new studio pottery and is appealing to the Poole community for help.

The kilns at Sopers Lane have been re-fired temporarily to complete some half-finished items left in the wake of the pre-Christmas closure.

And although a handful of staff have been helping out at the factory, time is almost up for the Creekmoor site.

Lifestyle's managing director Peter Bello said: "There is some activity at the factory right now, which will go on until about March 6.

"It is imperative we find a new site as soon as we can and we are eagerly looking.

"We have looked at some sites already but not found the magic formula yet."

Mr Bello is urging the town to help in the hunt for a suitable site for the new pottery, which he says needs around 5,000 square feet of retail space.

Another aim appears to be to make it as accessible as possible to visitors to maximise tourism potential.

"We appreciate the level of community interest and would invite anyone who knows of a suitable site to contact us," said Mr Bello.

The kilns from the current factory, worth around £30,000 each, are to be removed and put in storage for transfer to the new site.

In the interim period before moving into a new facility, head of design Alan White will set up a small operation with a kiln, wheel and spray booth at the pottery's Quayside shop.

But as already revealed, large parts of the manufacturing are to be moved to Royal Stafford in Stoke.

However, Mr White has stressed that the design process for all Poole Pottery products will remain in the town.