Independent traders at the top end of town have been the worst hit, but the axe will also fall on high street stalwart Woolworths on 5th January.

Stitch Express and Bed Time have already shut - soon to be followed by Smart Alec, Connaught House and Card Warehouse.

Only Klick Photopoint has managed to weather the storm with a last-minute buy out from shoe repair and key-cutting chain business Timpsons.

Ringing tills in the New Year Sales have helped to keep shoppers pounding the streets but there are fears there will be more shop casualties to come.

Connaught House managing director Peter Allsop said four of their eight stores were closing,, adding that the Worksop branch had had its ‘worst Christmas on record’ this year.

”Five years ago it was one of our biggest shops in spending terms, but people in Worksop seem to have stopped spending,” he said. ”Taking the decision to close was very difficult. We have got an excellent staff team and we have tried to keep it going, but it’s just not working.”

Mr Allsop blamed a lack of investment at the top end of Bridge Street as a key factor behind the problems faced by independent retailers.

”It has become an area of town for banks and building societies,” he said. ”If I was opening up a new shop now, I certainly wouldn’t consider opening on that side of the traffic lights.”

Reece Sherwood, 17, who was worked at clothes shop Smart Alec for a year, agreed and said more shop closures would add to the growing unemployment crisis.

“It’s slowly gone downhill since September this year,” he said. ”Customers have been telling us it’s the lack of something decent this end of town.”

“The new precinct has done nothing to help us either - more investment’s needed in the town.”

He added: ”But when you hear somewhere like Woolworths is also shutting down, you start to realise how bad things really are. There are no similar jobs in Worksop and very few at Meadowhall. It’s a very worrying time.”

Traders who are managing to stay afloat of the credit crunch said Christmas helped to restore cash flow but worrying times are still head.

Derek Brownhill, owner of the Coffee Pot, said town centre manager Russell Slater was doing a good job, but urged councillors to show their support.

”It’s their town too,” he said. ”We still seem to have this great divide in the town between one end and the other. I can see at least four stores closing down over the next few months. The trouble is - people don’t listen until it’s too late, but the writing’s on the wall for many businesses.”

Bassetlaw Council’s Keith Isard, who is responsible for town centre management, said the council is working on a variety of initiatives to encourage trade in the town, adding traders had a key role to play.

“It is unfortunate that acute downturn in the world’s economy is going to have local effects.