Bargain-hunters descended in force to a town centre store after it announced its closure with just 48 hours notice.

Shoppers queued for an hour or more in the QD store in Carr Street, Ipswich, which closes at 5pm today after its lease was not renewed.

The company’s other store in the town, in St Matthews Street, is unaffected by the closure.

It is understood that the landlords of the Eastgate Centre in Ipswich have another tenant lined up for the store.

A spokesman for QD said the company was disappointed that its Carr Street store was closing – but the company had been left with no option.

“The landlords are acting perfectly within the terms of the lease, but it has meant that we are having to close this store,” he said.

There were 27 members of staff at the store, and the company was hoping to find them positions at other stores within the group.

The company has stores across the region – including Thing-me-Bobs stores and Cherry Lane Garden Centres.

The spokesman said it would consider looking at another suitable unit on the eastern side of the town centre, but for the foreseeable future it would be concentrating its efforts in Ipswich on the St Matthew’s Street store – especially with the busy Christmas period only a few weeks away.

The store was selling off its stock with 50% off, which brought out the bargain-hunters who were prepared to queue for an hour . . . or even more.

Three generations of the Hynes Family from Rosemary Road in Ipswich came along to scoop up bargains.

Tracey Hynes was waiting outside with her niece Kelly Scott as her father Michael Hynes queued up inside.

“It’s sad that it’s closing because it was very convenient for us on this side of the town – but we’ve got some great bargains and I’ve started getting some Christmas things.

“It’s very busy in there. We spent about an hour queuing up to get through the till, but it was worth it. We’ve got loads of stuff.”

Ipswich Central did not know about the imminent closure until the staff were told on Wednesday – but chief executive Paul Clement did not expect the large unit to be empty for long.

They had heard there were new landlords at the site who had a new tenant lined up. Mr Clement added: “I can’t imagine any landlord not renewing a lease in the current climate if they don’t have a new tenant signed up!”