Woolworths closing for final time

Woolworths shops across Kent are closing in four phases

Woolworths stores across Kent closed for the last time on Saturday.

Branches in Canterbury, Gravesend, Maidstone, Margate, Ramsgate, Tenterden and Sittingbourne were in the first wave of more than 200 to shut.

Stores in Ashford, Broadstairs, Dover and Herne Bay will stop trading on Tuesday as part of the next phase of 200 closures across the UK.

Some 27,000 staff across the UK will lose their jobs after the chain collapsed last month with £385m debt.

Each store has a display in its window showing how many days are left.

Another store in Ashford and those in Chatham, Deal, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are to close on 2 January.

Branches in Sevenoaks, Sheerness and Strood will be among the final 200 to close, on 5 January.

It is expected some stores in prime High Street locations will be reopened by other retailers who have expressed an interest in buying the leases.