The city branch of Woolworths will be the first in this area to close as the company folds with debts of £385million.

The St George’s Street shop will shut on Saturday, followed by the Herne Bay and Whitstable branches on December 30 and Faversham on January 2.

Alister Atkin was among shoppers in Canterbury at the weekend lamenting the demise of the onetime retail giant.

“I think it’s very sad, especially at this time of year,” said the 35-year-old of Cross Street.

“Thousands of people will be losing their jobs at Christmas time. Woolworths have let their employees down by not keeping up with current trends and have instead allowed the company to sink.”

There will be more than 120 job losses across the four stores.

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition against the closure of the Faversham store.

It was organised by Francis Ward and Vicky Marriott. Mrs Ward, 63, of Brent Hill, Faversham, said: “It’s a very sad loss for the town and the people of Faversham really don’t want it to close.

“About one in 18 people in the town signed the petition. The Faversham store is extremely well run and very popular with people.”

Administrator Deloitte has announced that all 807 UK outlets will close by January 5 with the loss of more than 27,000 jobs.

Woolworths has been trading since 1909 when it opened its first store in Liverpool.