Eighteen Kent staff have been made redundant at troubled furniture retailer MFI after two branches closed in the county.

Managers took over 106 MFI stores in September in a buy-out, but the remaining 81 shops went into administration.

A spokesman for administrator Kroll, which specialises in restructuring ailing firms, said the Tunbridge Wells and Ashford stores both closed for the last time at close of business on Saturday, with nine people made redundant at each.

Other Kent branches, including Maidstone, are understood to be safe and are remaining to trade. It is understood that Kent has generally been one of the best performing counties for the chain.

Shoppers at the Tunbridge Wells store on Saturday arrived to find customers carrying display kitchens and what appeared to be shop fittings out of the doors and loading them on car roof racks amid a last-minute "make-us-an-offer sale".

Signs at the door of the store, at the North Farm retail park, read: "Store closing, save up to 80 per cent."

Others said: "Existing orders will be fulfilled. If this store closes before your order has been delivered then your nearest MFI will take responsibility."

One display kitchen, initially priced at £6,738 was up for sale at £999, with a sign above its granite-effect worktops reading "make us an offer". A previous bargain-hunter had already removed the built-in oven and hob.

An MFI source said redundant staff had been given enhanced commission rates for selling the now unwanted displays. They had been offered another two days work to help clear the store after closure.

"The beds were the first thing to go, and there wasn't much left by the end of it," he said.

MFI was once the UK's biggest furniture retailer, but has seen increasing competition. The furniture sector has been hard hit by the economic downturn.

• As staff at the Tunbridge Wells MFI said their last farewells, neighbouring stores at the North Farm retail park were advertising for new staff. Jobs were up for grabs at Toys R Us, where pre-Christmas trade was brisk and also at clothes retailer Next.