Just days before the start of the new term, a long-established schoolwear retailer has gone into administration.

Wards, in Ashford High Street, is the latest casualty of the economic downturn.

The company, which has eight stores across the South East, including a second Kent branch in Maidstone, will continue to trade at what is normally their busiest time of the year, but with their future uncertain some stock lines are running short.

The news has angered parents who are worried about kitting their children out with the right uniform.

Michelle Seaman, from Willesborough, had trouble finding a uniform for 11-year-old Aidan who is starting at the North School, Ashford, in September.

She said: “I don’t know what we’re going to do. The school said we should just buy some plain things from somewhere else and wait until we can get the proper uniform but it’s not very fair on Aidan.”

Ward’s directors have appointed Paul Appleton and Asher Miller of London-based David Rubin and Partners as administrators.

They have blamed “the current economic climate and slow retail trading conditions” for the situation.

The directors visited the Kent stores this week to tell staff the grim news but told them they hoped to sell individual shops or groups of shops as going concerns.

The run-up to the new school year is usually a busy time for schoolwear retailers, although in recent times they have faced tough competition from supermarkets.

There has been concern about monopoly or near monopoly deals that give certain shops sole rights to sell schoolwear and allegedly push up prices.

The Local Government Association recently urged schools to allow parents to shop around for their children’s school uniforms and not be forced to “pay through the nose” for uniform from monopoly suppliers.

It said while school uniform items were sold in supermarkets for only a couple of pounds, some schools still had uniforms that were only available from specialist suppliers.