In the last three weeks, Wills Department Store in Rushden High Street has sold stock worth £300,000 in its big summer sale.

The sale, which is being promoted with £500,000 sale signs in the store windows, is designed not only to clear the store for the new autumn stock, but to encourage shoppers in Rushden to buy locally and help retailers who are struggling in the current economic climate.

It has been a huge success and owner of the department store, John Wills, is hoping people will continue to support the shops in Rushden High Street.

He says he is doing all he can to promote local businesses.

He said: "We have held a big summer sale for the last two or three years.

"We try to do something different to encourage more people to shop in our stores.

"We decided to hold a half-million pound sale because that is how much we had to clear and we want to hold promotions to keep Rushden's shopping centre on the map.

"We sent out 15,000 invitations and had lots of people come in.

"So far we have sold about £300,000 of stock. We are very pleased with how the sale has gone, especially considering the state of the economy."

There have been some massive reductions in store with 70 per cent off items in the first week and now 50 per cent reductions.

Mr Wills would like to thank all his customers for their support during the recession.

He said: "The message to customers is, thank you for supporting us and please continue to back your local retailers. We certainly need the help.

"We want to let people know it is not just the big stores that have the bargains and that they can look forward to a great selection of stock and some interesting promotions this autumn."

The sale started on June 17 and will run for another week.