Boots has closed the shutters on its online photo service - bootsphoto.com - with the loss of around £17.5 million.

The service was launched in September last year but demand for the online album service and related online products never materialised, the high street retailer says

As a result, bootsphoto.com is expected to make an operating loss of £7.3 million for the first six months of the financial year.

And pulling out of the Net-based photograph service will cost an additional £10 million due mainly to contractual supply arrangements, the company said.

Although the online album service has been scrapped the site will continue to provide photographic pointers ahead of a relaunch next year.

No jobs will be lost as a result of today's announcement, a spokesman for Boots told The Register. ®