The BHS store at Hempstead Valley Shopping Centre will close its doors for the last time on Saturday.

Some branches, including the store in Gravesend town centre, have already closed while others will continue to trade until Saturday, August 20.

The Hempstead Valley branch has been selling off the last of its stock including shoe racks and mannequins in recent weeks.

One shopper said the store had begun to resemble a bootfair.

The closure was announced on Hempstead Valley's Facebook page last night.

Sir Philip bought BHS for £200 million in March 2000, but last year the company was sold to city investors, Retail Acquisitions, for £1 by the Arcadia Group.

He has come under harsh criticism by MPs after a report by the Work and Pension’s committee found that Sir Philip had extracted large sums of money from BHS leaving the business on “life support”.

The report described him as “the unacceptable face of capitalism” and also found he did not give enough priority to the BHS pension scheme, that now has a £571m pension fund deficit, which MPs say he has a duty to resolve.

Sir Philip has defended his ownership and described the committees’ report “biased and unfair”.