SHOPPERS in search of a bargain flocked to collapsed department store Debenhams yesterday as the second national lockdown restrictions were lifted.

The high street chain store announced it had fallen into administration this week.

Yesterday, shoppers queued at the tills at Market Place Shopping Centre, many purchasing clothes and items which had been heavily discounted.

Branches across the country reporting people waiting outside for doors to open as the chain store launched a clearance sale.

The chain store has been struggling for sometime but the timing of the announcement has come as a shock

Alison L Stewart, Senior Asset Manager at Moorgarth Group Limited, which runs Bolton's Market Place, said: "I think it is only fair to say that we have to recognise that there were some big retailers that had ‘underlying health problems’ before the [coronavirus] pandemic.

"We’ve been working with Debenhams for a long time. The store is open now and will continue to open in the New Year."

She described the timing of the announcement as "truly appalling" but is hoping the store can still be saved.

Alison said: "Their staff have been working really hard to get the store Christmas and safe shopping ready to be told, out of the blue, that they may not have a job in the New Year – but they still have to come into work and deliver Christmas.

"But I don’t think it is a closed chapter yet for Debenhams. None of these companies have liquidated yet.Conversations are still taking place. We’ve known for a long time that the business is at risk.

"The Market Place has been looking for a way forward and this focusses our attention to that."