A major retailer will leave a town centre mall, just days after another brand revealed its plans to exit.

Bosses at Next, in the County Square shopping centre in Ashford, today confirmed the two-storey shop will close.

Although an exact date has yet to be revealed, the team behind the clothing and home store say it will be 'around Autumn time'.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that our County Square NEXT store will be closing.

"Unfortunately we can't disclose any more information at this time."

The store sells men's, women's and children's clothes, as well as the home range. Click and Collect is also available.

It is a major blow to Ashford town centre; on Monday H&M also confirmed it will be leaving County Square on Sunday, March 13.

The two stores are neighbours and face the hole left by Debenhams, which left the centre in January 2020.

A spokesman at H&M told this website: "At H&M we continuously review our store portfolio, the decision to close this particular store was part of the long-term strategy to ensure we are offering our customers the best possible shopping experience in the right locations.

"Customers can continue to shop for quality fashion at the best price at our nearby stores or online at hm.com."

Both Next and H&M joined County Square as part of its extension built in 2008.

But there has been many changes at the precinct over recent years.

Marks and Spencer exited from the town centre mall in 2019, but has since been replaced by HomePlus Furntiture.

River Island left in 2020, and was replaced by a JobCentre.

Recent shop openings include Iconic jewellery and YMCA charity shop.

Other existing shops include Peacocks, Waterstones, New Look and The Body Shop.

The 1975-built mall, which was previously known as the Tufton Centre, has room for 70 stores, making up 360,106 sq ft of retail space.

The whole shopping centre was put on the market for £13.5million last year.

To read the history of the shopping centre, click here.

County Square has been approached for a comment.