ONE OF the oldest customers to lose out with the collapse of Courts is 92-year-old Peggy Stanger.

But although she has lost her deposit on a new carpet, she is more saddened than angry because Peggy is the great grand-daughter of the founder of the business which was started in the city in 1850.

Speaking from her home in Barton Road, Canterbury, she said: "It saddens me greatly that the business has failed because it has such a great history and tradition in Canterbury.

"My grandfather, William Henry Court really developed the business in Butchery Lane and it became a high-class furnishings store.

"Unfortunately, the building was destroyed by a bomb in June 1942 when my father Percy was running it. He managed to carry on in small premises in Sun Street until it was bought by the Cohen brothers in 1946.

"They were very nice men and kept my father on as a director because of his expertise on the shop floor. He also travelled all over the country for the company opening new stores."

But when he passed died in 1955 at the age of 69, the Court family connection with the company also died.

Peggy was born in Sturry Hill in 1912 and ran a dance school. Her husband Frank, who died in 1999, was a physicist.

She said: "I have always remained loyal to Courts and bought my furnishings from them. In fact, I had only recently paid a deposit on a new bedroom carpet which I shall never get back."

Peggy was invited to open the new store in Wincheap two years ago and says she is sad for the staff who have lost their jobs and the customers who have lost money.