ALL 807 branches of Woolworths – including stores in Finchley Road, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Kentish Town and Camden Town – will be closed by early January, say administrators. Unless a buyer can be found, the stores will close in groups of 200, Deloitte

ALL 807 branches of Woolworths - including stores in Finchley Road, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Kentish Town and Camden Town - will be closed by early January, say administrators.

Unless a buyer can be found, the stores will close in groups of 200, Deloitte say. The first group, including Kentish Town and Crouch End, is set to close on December 27 with further closures on December 30, January 2 and January 5.

Shopper David Glover, 58, from Hampstead, said: "It's sad in a way because it's been on the high street for years.

"I don't come regularly - I just buy sweets mostly."

Daniel Bergsager, 19, of Broadhurst Gardens in West Hampstead, added: "It's a bit of a shame.

"Everyone loves Woolworths.

"I only go when I need something - but it serves its purpose well."

More than 25,000 Woolworths employees will be retained for a period after the closures and then helped through a fast-track process for getting redundancy entitlements.

Woolworths opened its first British store in 1909 in Liverpool.

The company announced it had gone into administration on November 26.

It had debts of £385million and a buyer for the company could not be found.