The economic downturn has claimed a further 16 jobs in the county with the closure of two menswear shops - one in Gravesend end.

The Officers Club store in Gravesend, and the Petroleum branch in the Dockside Outlet Centre, Chatham, have shut.

Seven Petroleum staff have lost their jobs, with a further nine going at the Gravesend store.

However, the Maidstone branch of The Officers Club, in the Mall Chequers Centre, is one of 118 stores that will stay open following the chain’s sale to TimeC 1215 for an undisclosed sum, savimg a handful of jobs.

Thirty-two stores, including the two in Kent and Medway, have closed immediately.

The sale to TimeC 1215, a company set up by David Charlton, chief executive of The Officers Club, to buy the store chain, is expected to save more than 1,000 jobs.

The Officers Club and Petroleum, based in Northumberland, went into administration on Monday.