Last Friday saw one of the Royals Shopping Centre’s most-loved stores shut its doors for the final time.

Debenhams first opened its doors along Southend High Street in March 1988 and quickly became a firm favourite with residents and daytrippers visiting to our seaside town.

Online fashion firm Boohoo acquired all intellectual property assets of Debenhams from its joint administrators in January.

However, the £55million takeover did not include the purchase of its shops.

It led to tearful scenes inside the Royals on Friday and the Debenhams store found in the Eastgate Shopping Centre will follow suit on Saturday.

We have delved into the archive to rediscover a selection of snaps from the Southend store through the years.