Shutters come down and last customer exits Wilko Blackburn

Shelves at the store on King William Street, Blackburn were empty for much of Thursday as staff made their final arrangements to close the store.

During the afternoon customers made their way through the store to meet  staff.

As closing time approached staff had invited a Gurdev Singh of GSDholis to perform for customers. 

The final customer left the store at around 4.50pm as staff first closed the entrance to King William Street and then finally brought the shutters down at the entrance to the Mall.

Shoppers had stopped to video the final few moments of the iconic store before staff said tearful goodbyes to colleagues. 

All the shelves were empty but shoppers were still passing through to take one final look

The entrance via King William Street

A staff member throws up her uniform at the shutters come down

Earlier, it was revealed around half of the staff had managed to find new roles elsewhere.

Manager Samairah Rafique said:  "My team are like my family to me and we’re not going to be together anymore so we’re really feeling that pressure now today.

It is unsure at this stage who will take up the prime spot vacated by the store which opened following the closure of British Home Stores.

Closing time at Wilko as the final customer leaves the store

Wilko entered administration leaving all 400 stores and 12,500 employees at risk.  

Administrators at PwC were forced to sell off Wilko’s assets after failing to secure a rescue deal for the whole business.

While more than 250 Wilko stores have or will close there are a number of sites across the UK that have been saved and will relaunched under a new high street brand.