The shelves were empty and the stock cleared when the doors of the Kingswood branch of Woolworths were locked for the last time, bringing the shutters down on a part of British retailing history.

Staff at the store had started their final day of trading not knowing when they would finish. It could have been during the afternoon if everything was sold or into the evening if there were still bargains to be had.

In the end, the last customer hurried out into the dark at about 5pm, leaving weary-looking staff to close the Regent Street premises and go home.

It was a scene repeated on Saturday at a quarter of all branches of Woolies; some 200 out of the chain's 800-plus stores, across the country, including those in The Mall Galleries in Broadmead, at Yate Shopping Centre and in Weston-super-Mare.

It came after Deloitte, administrators for the stricken company, said all branches nationwide would close by January 5 after failing to find a buyer for the firm.

The first four to shut in the West were those that had the least stock remaining.

Woolworths' other branches in the Bristol area are in Fishponds, Clevedon and Shirehampton which close of December 30; Filton, Hartcliffe, Bedminster and Clifton will close on January 2 and Nailsea on January 5.

By late afternoon in Kingswood, there was still a large number of customers in the store hunting out items from rulers to children's plimsolls from the limited range on offer as upbeat music was piped around the store.

Most of the shelves were bare but they even had the chance to take the fixtures and fittings such as filing cabinets, trolleys and staff lockers.

As the day carried on, items that were already heavily discounted at up to 90 per cent off were being offered at even cheaper prices.

As it grew dark outside, children's clothing was being offered at 10p an item, the same price for a pair of plimsolls.

Management even resorted to a kind of auction, appealing for anyone to buy up hundreds of pounds of chart CDs for £25.

Gary Blundell, 46, of Kingswood, spent £10 but reckoned what he had bought would otherwise have set him back about £150.

Two customers were especially happy with their bargains, swivel chairs for a tenner apiece that had been among the fixtures and fittings.

Carol Morrison, of Kingswood, was shopping with her 13-year-old daughter Nialah and decided to pop into the store.

She said: "I didn't come out to buy a chair but it will go in my 19-year-old son Ashur's room a treat. It had been priced at £15 but I got it for £10."

Pagan Winsor, 22, also of Kingswood, said: "I got one of the chairs for £10 and a table for £5. I was in the store for an hour waiting for the prices to come down even more. I also bought some paint, DVDs and sweets and the whole lot probably cost me about £40."

But some customers left empty handed, saying there was nothing remaining to tempt them and only feeling sadness at the loss of a High Street institution.

Lynda and Stephen Jones, of Downend, dropped in for one last time but failed to buy.

Mrs Jones said: "I find it really sad, especially seeing the fittings being sold off. I used to go to Woolworths with my mum and dad, so have many memories."

Mr Jones said: "It's so empty now and I feel sorry for all the staff who are losing their jobs because of the closures."

The rest of the Woolworths branches will close unless a last-minute buyer is found, leaving 27,000 workers nationwide facing redundancy.