The closure of another shop means a town centre street is losing 70% of its retail outlets ahead of work starting on a new hotel.

Hospices of Hope in New Rents, Ashford, is now empty and signs in the window state the branch has shut.

The charity shop is located opposite a row of six stores, including the former Argos unit and PDSA, which will be flattened to make way for a 92-bed hotel.

Plans for the establishment, which will include a bar, restaurant and spa, were approved last month.

British Heart Foundation has already confirmed it is leaving Ashford after 30 years as a result of the development.

And now Hospices for Hope - between Ashford Sewing Centre and Mastercutters on the opposite side of the street - has also gone.

It means New Rents is losing seven out of its 10 retail outlets, with construction of the hotel expected to begin in October. A number of non-retail units - such as restaurants, cafes and hairdressers - remain.

Party business KPC Events, which only moved into the street in February, was the first to leave following the hotel's approval.

Game has already moved into a new unit inside Sports Direct.

It is not yet clear what betting shop Betfred plans to do.

But PDSA has confirmed it plans to stay in Ashford - although details of where it might move to are yet to be confirmed.

Regional operations controller Neil Squire said: “Our charity shop has been part of the local community in Ashford for a number of years and we are fully committed to staying in the area.

"The pandemic had a huge impact on our fundraising activities which is why the support provided by our shops is so important to us.

"We don’t receive any government funding towards running life-saving veterinary services across our 48 pet hospitals so the generosity of the community who donate items to our shops, the time dedicated to us by our volunteers and the loyalty of our customers, enable us to be there for poorly pets when they are most in need.”

Hospices for Hope has seven other stores in Kent which remain open - in Maidstone, Faversham, Orpington, Otford, Rochester, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

The charity, which raises cash to support patients with terminal illness in Romania, Serbia, Moldova and Albania, was unavailable for comment when contacted by KentOnline.