A charity shop abandoned for more than four years has sold at auction.

Save the Children in Union Street, Maidstone, went under the hammer on Tuesday, October 8.

It comes after former volunteers and customers spoke to KentOnline in September over concerns valuable donations had been left inside to gather dust since it closed during the pandemic.

In response, bosses at Save the Children said “all sellable donations” had already been transferred to other stores to help generate vital funds.

The store was then put up for auction shortly after the initial story.

But pictures behind the blacked-out shop window taken in October revealed the store remained piled full of stock including chairs, Easter decorations, plastic boxes, and a plastic Christmas tree.

The charity then admitted it was still working to clear it, with work taking place throughout the first week of October.

The Grade-II listed site sold at auction for £170,000 to property developer and fellow Union Street resident Gary Peters, and his business partner.

Back in September, the pair said they wanted to make the site “pretty again”.

The 54-year-old said: “I would start work on it tomorrow and put it back to a house because that’s what it was originally.”

Maidstone resident Julie Sibley, who had previously expressed her concerns about the shop being left abandoned, said: “It’s sad it can’t be a shop but hopefully if it’s sold the charity gets all the money”.

Save the Children has been in Union Street, Maidstone, since the 1980s when the building was bought for £12,000.

Kate Bishop, director of retail brand and strategy at Save the Children, said: “We will sell the unit with ‘vacant possession’ to any purchaser so we will not be leaving anything in the shop.

“Any remaining fixtures will be rehomed or recycled, and all waste disposed.

“All personal information and gift aid data has been stored securely in line with GDPR guidelines and will not be on site before, during or after the sale of the premises.”