ONE of Kidderminster's largest stores has closed its doors to the public - two months earlier than planned.

Littlewoods, in Worcester Street, closed on Saturday, January 7 after selling off fixtures and fittings and other retail equipment as part of a big closing down sale.

The Kidderminster store's fate had hung in the balance since last July, when the Associated British Foods - ABF - group bought the 121 stores in the Littlewoods chain from the Barclay Brothers, the twin tycoons who own the Telegraph Group and the Ritz Hotel.

Most of the stores will be run by ABF's Primark fashion subsidiary while the rest have been sold to BhS and New Look. At present, it is not known who will take over the former Littlewoods building in Kidderminster.

The original intention of ABF was to keep all branches trading until March but, following consultations with staff, it was decided to bring the closure forward to this month.

An ABF spokeswoman said: "There are no guarantees the staff who used to work for Littlewoods will work for Primark or whoever takes over the store.

"However, they would, obviously, need a new workforce and, knowing the area and the store, the staff would stand a good chance of securing a job."