A handful of customers meander around aisles stripped almost bare, picking discounted items off near-empty shelves.

The days of Ashford’s Wilko store are numbered, and the scenes inside paint a tragic picture of its impending closure after more than 20 years.

Next week it will shut its doors for the final time - along with three other Kent branches – following the chain’s fall into administration.

On our visit to the Park Mall store - the largest in the struggling shopping centre - it’s clear staff are preparing to pull down the shutters for good.

“Everything must go”, reads one sign, while others offer a 30% discount on Halloween goods and half-price Christmas decorations.

Hurried customers can be heard asking each other “shall we get this?” or “do you need any of this?” as they stock up - likely unnecessarily - on a range of homewares.

The store has been here since 2002, when it took over a site once occupied by Sainsbury’s.

Long-time customer Julia Halliday, from Ashford, can recall its days as a supermarket.

“I have shopped there forever,” she tells us, adding: “I remember when it used to be Sainsbury’s!

“It has been there for so long and everything in there is good value. I buy all my pet stuff there; the home area is good, so now I don’t know where I’ll go.

“It is a nice shop and the staff are nice. I’m going to miss it being there.

“I was quite shocked it’s closing and I’m very gutted.”

Husband and wife Claire and Dave Drummond say the loss of Wilko is a blow for the high street.

“We are guilty ourselves of shopping online, but it’s just another gutting thing – more people out of work,” Mrs Drummond says.

“It’s just another devastation for the high street, and another blow.

“[Ashford] was the first Wilko I ever shopped in.”

Mr Drummond chips in: “There are a lot more shops closing – look at County Square; Debenhams is gone, Next only just survived.

“It is worrying and bad for the area I think. We don’t need flats, we need shops.”

Long-term plans to convert Park Mall into homes could now be fast-tracked following the loss of Wilko.

Eight years ago Ashford Borough Council bought the precinct, which is home to a number of other units, including a tearoom, Poundstretcher and a record store.

But given Wilko’s loss - plus the closure of the centre’s car park - the proposed redevelopment could now happen earlier than planned, although a timescale has yet to be revealed.

However, change has been a constant in the shopping centre’s history, with archive pictures showing how the Wilko site has evolved since the 1970s.

Customer Jill Chapman believes its closure will signal an exodus of other big-name brands.

“Once Wilko closes, I think there won’t be any shops in Ashford and they’ll be moved to other areas,” she says.

“I’m a great sewer but you can’t even find a material shop. I won’t go online.

“I will probably give it up but it’s just sad that the younger generation accepts the new and no one fights to keep anything.”

Another regular, Susan Bartlett, adds: “With Woolworths closing and then Wilko, where can you go now?

“I don’t believe in shopping online because you order six things and send five back. I like to feel the material and look at the item, so it’s so sad.

“Every time you pick the newspaper up, there’s another shop or cafe going.

“In Ashford, where are they going to get jobs, because everywhere you look something is closing or for sale?”

The Ashford Wilko is among 52 shops set to close their doors next week – at a cost of more than 1,000 jobs - with stores in Folkestone, Tunbridge Wells and Westwood Cross also shutting.

A spokesman for Ashford Borough Council said: “We’re sad to see the store close.

“They have been part of our town centre for many years and our thoughts go out to those staff affected by the closure.”

B&M is set to buy 51 branches across the UK in a deal worth £13 million.