A town centre M&S which has sat empty for two years is set to be taken over.

The store in Week Street, Maidstone will become an Asian supermarket and vegan store, it has been revealed.

M&S once had two stores just a few yards from each other in the town centre.

One sold womenswear and the other was home to menswear, kidswear, a food hall, and cafe.

In January 2022, the company decided to permanently shut both branches – a huge blow to the high street after 100 years in the town.

It came as a result of the retail giant opening an out-of-town flagship store in Eclipse Park near Junction 7 of the M20.

Signs posted on the empty building – the branch previously home to the food hall – say it will now become The Plantbase Store and a Longdan.

Longdan was launched in 2006 and provides specialty products for Asian cooking – including products from Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Korea and other eastern countries.

The firm has more than 11 stores across the country.

The Plantbase Store was founded in 2019 and aims to promote a sustainable and vegan lifestyle. It will sell a wide range of organic and plant-based items.

The brands are owned by the same company and look to be sharing the same space.

Both websites have the building in Week Street already listed on their store locators, with the words “Coming Soon” underneath.

The branch will be the first to open in Kent.

It will join Rimzi Hair and Beauty, which will also be launching a couple of doors down in the former Dorothy Perkins store.

A planning application was approved last Thursday (January 11) and construction workers were spotted dismantling the old frontage.

However, the news comes as a number of well-known brands recently decided to close their doors.

Fashion retailer Zara in Fremlin Walk shut unexpectedly before Christmas and Sports Direct is set to move out of The Mall in a department store rebrand.

On Monday, coffeehouse chain Costa announced it would be pulling the plug on its branch in King Street.

We asked Maidstone residents and experts what is to blame for recent shop closures. Click here to read the report.

Longdan and The Plantbase Store have been contacted for a comment.

An opening date for the branch is yet to be revealed.