Dozens of ex-Woolworths stores stand empty, without tenants – a stark reminder of the crisis on our high streets.

In 2014, some 22 of the 807 shops which closed were unused – but research by The Local Data Company shows it has risen to 46.

The last of the stores shut in early January 2009 after nearly 100 years in Britain. Woolies’ collapse triggered 27,000 job losses, ripping the heart out of town centres.

Retail expert Graham Soult, who runs consultants Canny Insights, said: “No subsequent retail collapse has come close to Woolworths in terms of how many working lives it impacted.”

Most stores were eventually filled but three branches – in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Kidderminster, Worcs, and Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham – have never had another tenant.

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The landlord of the Longton store, Gill Properties, is based 150 miles away near Reading.

Sucha Singh, a director of the firm, defended its shabby state saying “it would cost so much to do [up]”.

He said the company had paid business rates and had now found a tenant.

The Newton Aycliffe store is owned by London-based Daejan Holdings. A source said it had been a “real challenge” to find a tenant because the shop was “relatively large”.

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The Kidderminster store is again owned by a London firm.

The biggest single occupier of former stores is budget chain Poundland, says Mr Soult. But 22 have found other roles, including as pubs, restaurants, a gym and even two nurseries.

A store in Margate, Kent, which stood shuttered up for years, is now an arts school.

Other big chains to collapse after Woolworths include Blockbusters in 2013, BHS in 2016, and Toys R Us in 2018.

As the retail crisis continues, more than 1,000 workers are now fearing for their jobs after department store chain Beales went into administration.

Woolworths was beating heart of the high street

The famous Woolworths sign is still in place, but the once bright red letters are slowly being overtaken by creeping green moss.

Rusted windows are coated in grime and paint is flaking off the facade, while bits of cardboard and newspaper stop faces from peering through the windows into the gloom.

This building is one of three former Woolworths branches which have not been occupied by a tenant since the firm’s collapse almost 12 years ago.

It served the people of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, for more than 80 years, until 2008.

Since then, only one enterprise has moved into the empty building – an illegal cannabis farm, which police busted last July.

Three doors down, Pete Hadley has run the Sewing Centre Longton, selling and repairing machines since 1975. Thanks to loyal customers his business has survived but, he said: “I’ve seen the demise of Longton, it is very sad.”

Pete thinks the closure of Woolworths had an immediate impact on the high street, which is now blighted by boarded-up shops and “to let” signs.

“It definitely affected us, without a doubt,” said Pete. “And that was followed by clothing store Ethel Austin going. The drop-off in footfall was instant. There was nothing to encourage people to walk along here.”

Richard Cresswell, 77, grew up in a flat overlooking Woolworths, above the family’s engineering supply business, R.D. Cresswell & Co, established by his grandfather in 1898. Mr Cresswell runs that same firm, now based away from its old home on Market Street – a place he despairs over.

Reflecting on the change, he said: “It’s a bleak picture. Once upon a time you could buy anything in Longton, now you can buy naff all. Market Street was full of people on Saturdays.”

Smartly dressed Trevor Morris, 83, who worked in the region’s famous pottery industry for 40 years, was one of those people.

He said: “It just seems to be vaping shops now. There isn’t the choice there used to be.”

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