A couple behind a new clothing store have moved their business from Hastings Pier to a Kent shopping centre.

LA Style is the latest independent retailer to join County Square in Ashford, filling an empty unit between Poundland and EE.

Sam Cratchley and Shaun Millis are behind the family-run business having taken over from their daughters Laura and Ashley.

They previously sold their range of men and women's clothing from two huts along Hastings Pier in East Sussex but were told they needed to find a new premises from September.

While many shops are closing, they spent months searching for a new location and felt County Square "ticked all the boxes".

"This is perfect because it's inside and more reasonable in price than anywhere else," said Ms Cratchley.

"It is our daughters’ business, hence the LA which stands for Laura and Ashleigh.

"We set it up for them a couple of years ago but they have since had babies so didn’t really have the time so we found ourselves running it anyway.

"We decided to take over and run it until the babies are all grown up and hopefully hand it back and they can open another shop depending how it all goes."

The store, which opened on Wednesday, sells a range of men and women's clothing from sizes eight to 24 as well as handbags and accessories.

Mr Millis, who lives in Hastings, added: "It's not the same run-of-the-mill stuff that everybody else is doing.

"We have lots of linen which no one else stocks because it's hard to get hold of.

"We also have well known brands like Nike, Adidas Under Armour, The North Face, which are reasonably priced to compete with JD and Sports Direct.

"I think we are a lot more colourful than other shops too.

"We’re not here to compete with other retailers, you’ve got some high end and lower end brands and I think we’ve pitched right in the middle.

"It's not the best time of year to take a shop on with everything going on, however the landlord has been very accommodating and we felt welcomed here.

"It’s a good spot so hopefully we can make it work."

A spokeswoman for County Square said: “We are excited to welcome LA Style to County Square who officially opened their doors Wednesday offering clothing ranges for both men and women.

"LA Style is a family-run independent clothing store so we’re extremely pleased to support them in establishing their business in Ashford and wish them much success.”

The unit was previously used by jewellery store A.Simmonds before it moved to a larger unit in the centre's extension.

Pandora, Menkind and Limelight are also among previous tenants.

Elsewhere in the centre, gift and homeware store Flutterbyes has closed.