Viyella has today closed its doors at its Maidstone store.

The womenswear company announced at the beginning of January that it had called in administrators.

Shoppers in the County Town were greeted today with a handwritten note on the door simply saying "Closed".

The windows of the store, in Royal Star Arcade, Maidstone High Street, have been papered over, but through a gap, neat rows of unsold clothes can still be seen on rails.

A Terms of Trade notice, announcing that Birmingham-based administrators Poppleton and Appleby had been appointed, was still in the window.

Viyella was formed in 1784 and is one of Britain’s longest-established clothing manufacturers.