A campaign has been launched to bring discount clothing store Primark to Ashford -hot on the heels of an identical one for Folkestone.

Allie Cigerli has the support of almost 500 people in her bid to replace the closed Woolworth store in Ashford High Street with the bargain-price clothes store.

She has set up a Facebook group called Bring Primark to Ashford and has gained almost 500 members in two weeks.

She explained: “In this current economic climate we need a shop as affordable as Primark.”

Ms Cigerli has written to the company’s head office and her efforts follow a We Want Primark in Folkestone campaign supported by more than 1,000 people.

Mum-of-two Kay McLoughlin set that up at the end of last year using the social networking site.

Primark is best known for selling budget-price clothes but its success is in making them with simple designs and fabrics and sourcing supplies cheaply.

A spokesman for Primark said: “We are not currently looking at any former Woolworths stores as they do not fit our criteria.”