The last remnants of stock littered the shelves of Borehamwood’s Woolworths on Saturday evening, as the store fell victim to the first wave of closures to hit the chain.

The 20 staff at the Shenley Road shop are among an estimated 27,000 who will lose their jobs as a result of the collapse of the high street discount store, which arrived in the UK 99 years ago.

On Saturday prices were slashed with a discount of 90 per cent off all goods attracting last-minute shoppers.

Paul Welsh, film historian and entertainments officer at Elstree & Borehamwood Town Council, said: “It is sad to see the closing of our local Woolworths store where I remember my late mum working 45 years ago. It seems an age ago and I guess everything has its day, but it’s always sad when familiar things go.

“I remember Woolworths in the days when it had staff behind the individual counters rather than at one pay area. But the look of the store doesn’t seem to have changed much, which may be part of the reason why it has suffered.”

Administrators were called in last month by Woolworths, which has suffering mounting debts of around £385 million.

Borehamwood’s Woolworths was among 200 stores shut at the weekend in the first round of closures. The remaining 607 shops will close by January 5. The staff at the Shenley Road store will be entitled to compensation under the statutory redundancy payment scheme and will be kept on for a few days following the closures.

Administrators Deloitte said more than 300 of the shops are under offer and there is also interest in the other 500. Deloitte’s Neville Kahn said: “While negotiations for the sale of Woolworths’ retail arm remain ongoing, and we continue to speak to new interested parties, regrettably we have had to begin a store closure programme. We are extremely grateful to the staff and management for their support throughout this difficult time.

“We are confident we will sell the leases of the 300 stores currently under offer and are hopeful our ongoing discussions with other parties will also prove successful.”