Bargain hunters have been heading to Woolworths to take advantage of the closing-down sale.

But most people going into Woolworths in Maidstone’s Week Street on the first day of the closing down sale on Thursday were coming straight out again empty-handed, dismayed at the length of the queues. Upwards of 80 people waited at each pay-point.

Patricia Baker, 70, from Stratford Road, West Malling, said: “The queues have put me off, but I might pop back later.”

Mrs Baker, who said she regularly shopped at Woolies for videos and games for the children, added: “It’s an iconic part of our High Streets. I don’t know what’s gone wrong.”

James McGrath, 26, from Aylesford, said: “It’s sad to see it go.

“It’s always been somewhere my family would shop, but I haven’t bought anything today. It’s bedlam.”

Peter Ankers, 44, from Aylesford, gave up, saying: “I was just pulling my hair out in there because of the crowds. I shall be sorry to see Woolies go; I always remember even as a boy going there to buy Christmas presents, but I think it’s been hit hard by the supermarkets.”

Frank Pritchard, 55, of Chapman Avenue, Maidstone, said: “It’s a British institution. I remember going there as a boy to buy broken biscuits.”

But one shopper, who preferred not to be named, was critical of Woolworths’ sale notices. Posters in the windows advertised 'All goods reduced by up to 50 per cent’, but he said: “Most items are just reduced by 10 or 20 per cent. Only a few racks right at the back of the store are reduced by 50 per cent.”

Woolworths employs 30,000 staff. Branches include Maidstone, Chatham, Gillingham, Herne Bay, Faversham, Tenterden, Canterbury, Whitstable, Sittingbourne.

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