A former Bonmarche store which has sat abandoned since the start of the year is to become a budget card shop.

Ashford's County Square shopping centre lost its branch of the clothing chain in January, sparking six job losses.

But the site - which sits between F.Hinds and The Fragrance Shop - will now be filled by Cards Direct when it opens next Thursday (October 15).

Established in 2012, the chain currently has 34 stores in the country - including Folkestone, Canterbury and Chatham.

It offers cards from 19p but will face competition from Card Factory which is already in the centre.

Stacey Bell, County Square's retail scheme director, says she is delighted to welcome the new name to the site.

"In these uncertain times, this will be a welcome good news story," she said.

"We know Cards Direct will be a great asset to our shopping centre."

Last year, County Square lost its Cardmarket shop which was replaced by a WHSmith discount store.

And in 2017, the centre's Clintons Cards closed for good just three years after it was rebranded.

The site now forms part of the Metro Bank, which opened in December 2018.

Elsewhere in the centre, Ashford's Poundland store - which filled the former BHS unit - is still closed.

The site closed in August but the shutters were only expected to be down for four weeks.

Almost two months on, it remains shut and a Poundland spokesman did not respond to KentOnline's request for comment.

In the summer, the discount chain said: "Our store has gone into hibernation because footfall has still not returned to levels that make it sensible at this stage to keep it open."

Following the coronavirus lockdown, County Square chiefs released a video showing the Covid-secure measures it had put in place for shoppers.

To watch the video, click here

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