THERE were tears from staff today (Sunday, August 28) as the doors finally closed at the region's last BHS stores.

The shops in the Metrocentre in Gateshead and on Coney Street in York were among 22 which served their customers for the final time today.

More than 150 of the department stores have now closed for good, 88 years after the business was introduced to towns and cities across the country.

In York, the doors of the store were locked to customers before its official 4pm closing time.

Inside, staff could be seen hugging one another on the shopfloor, which had been stripped of all stock, fixtures and fittings.

A number of shoppers tried unsuccessfully to open the locked doors.

One woman said: "I needed some new clothes so I thought I would come down here today but it is closed.

"I always shop at BHS so it is really sad to see it close down."

Store worker Janet Scott, 61, from Haxby, York, wiped tears from her eyes as she described how she had worked at BHS for just under 20 years.

She said: "It's a sad day. I'm gutted."

Mrs Scott said the last day in the store had been "manic" and added: "But the staff were feeling quite upbeat and feeling positive about it. You've just got to get on and do the job, haven't you?"

She said she would miss the customers after working for years in the schoolwear department.

She said: "People come in that you've seen every week. I've seen children growing up from that age to getting their last school uniform."

Shopper Alan Steele, 62, from York, said he had visited the store earlier in the week and described it as being like a "jumble sale".

He said fixtures and fittings, such as mannequins, were being sold off as the shop was cleared out and he saw one customer leave with a pile of cardboard boxes.

"It's very sad, very sad," he said. "It's been an institution over the years and I'll be sad to see it go."

Administrators Duff & Phelps and FRP Advisory have overseen scores of closures over recent weeks, including BHS's flagship Oxford Street store in London's West End.

The department store's collapse in April has affected 11,000 jobs, 22,000 pensions, sparked a lengthy parliamentary inquiry and left its high-profile former owners potentially facing a criminal investigation.

Retail billionaire Sir Philip Green has borne the brunt of the public fallout, having been branded the "unacceptable face of capitalism" by furious MPs.

Sir Philip owned BHS for 15 years before selling it to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for £1 in 2015.