SHOPPERS have been urged to “mask-up, wrap-up, and use the town centre” before there’s no businesses left to browse.

Closing down sale posters have appeared in Bonmarché, Peacocks, and Edinburgh Woollen Mill, in Clacton, sparking fears of imminent closures.

The worrying red signs, prominently positioned within the shops’ windows, come after the Edinburgh Woollen Mill group, which owns all three stores, lodged a notice to appoint administrators.

The retailer has already announced plans to close 50 stores, resulting in roughly 600 job losses, but it not yet known which specific stores will be shut down.

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If the decision is made to axe Clacton’s trio of threatened shops it will be yet another nail in the coffin of a town centre, which has seen numerous closures in recent years.

Shortly after the nationwide lockdown was lifted, Clintons and Dorothy Perkins failed to reopen, and the units previously occupied by Marks & Spencer and Mothercare still remain empty.

Graham Webb, chairman of the Clacton Town Partnership, has now urged residents and shoppers to do all they can to save the town centre.

“The whole thing is bad news, but I am not fully convinced these shops will go yet,” he said.

“It is a wait-and-see situation, which is unfair on the hard-working staff and our shoppers.

“The town is not perfect, and we have lost too much already, but the town needs the public right now to support it, more than ever.

“So, I say to them, mask-up, wrap-up and use the town centre.

“We can blame the councils and shop owners, but it is the public who have the power.”

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Tendring Council officials, who received a £150,000 grant to improve the town centre, say they are currently none-the-wiser about the future of Bonmarché, Peacocks, and Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

But Mary Newton, councillor responsible for business and economic growth, believes Clacton still has a lot to offer local and visiting consumers.

She said: “Although we are aware the umbrella company which owns these chains has entered administration, we have not received any information which places these stores at risk.

“While a challenging time for town centres as demands change and we face the issues caused by Covid-19, I remain optimistic about the future of Clacton town centre.”