SHUTTERS have come down on Colchester High Street’s historic Marks and Spencer for the final time after the retailer completed its move to a new megastore in Stanway.

The controversial move follows a prolonged campaign from Marks and Spencer customers, who fought for the store to remain open and retain its base in Colchester city centre.

The former site of the Marks and Spencer becomes the second major retail unit in Colchester city centre to lie vacant, after Debenhams went into administration in spring last year.

Having been selling products to members of the public in Colchester for more than a century, Marks and Spencer announced the closure of the High Street branch in April – but the move sparked a backlash from customers, environmentalists and business owners who see the move as another nail in the coffin for the city centre’s shopping district.

Marks and Spencer has had a permanent store in Colchester High Street since the 1930s – though the retailer started operating in the city as long ago as 1911.

But today marks the end of an era for the retailer’s life in the heart of the city, with the move to the Stane Retail Park in Stanway now complete.

Despite campaigners imploring the retailer to stay in the High Street in a meeting held at the George Hotel this summer, bosses pushed ahead with the store’s closure.

It comes despite the efforts of Maarten and Sarah Westera, who started a petition in April in a bid to keep the high street store open – and yesterday, with the store’s closure a matter of hours away, they held a silent vigil outside the store to mark its closure.

Mr Westera said: “[Marks and Spencer] are taking a big risk, knowing full well they need the support of their existing customers for the new store to be successful.”

But Marks and Spencer has been keen to extol the benefits of its new out-of-town store, with a spokesman confirming it will have 80,000 sq ft of shopping space, as well as a café which can seat 136 customers.

He said: “Shopping habits are changing, so we’re rotating our store estate to make sure we have the right stores to offer our customers a brilliant shopping experience.”

“We believe it is the right decision to make this significant investment in a new store for the local area so we can deliver the very best of M&S for customers in Colchester.”

The new store will also have capacity for 600 cars, offer a wider range of products, and employ 240 members of staff – many of whom will be moved from the branch previously in Colchester city centre.

The Marks and Spencer in Colchester High Street employed around 110 members of staff previously.