A Winchester city centre store has closed without reimbursing its clients for their pre-paid bookings.

Alister Hutchin, 82, of Ashurst, had appointments with high street shoe shop Shuropody, but was not notified of its closure.

He has heard nothing about the £120 he paid in advance to book podiatry treatment.

He presumes the in-store sessions have been cancelled, but cannot get in touch with the nationwide chain.

READ MORE: Winchester High Street shop Shuropody to shut in latest closure

The notice of closure (Image: Kim Barber)

He said: “In the shop there was a girl called Katheryn, who was so good that she had an enormous following. You had to wait months to get an appointment with her.”

It is unclear how many people may have been affected by the closure.

Mr Hutchin was aware that other branches had shut in a similar manner, including those in Salisbury and Southampton, leaving customers and staff in the lurch.

“I have heard that they do not bother to contact the people who pay in advance,” he said.

“I phoned all the telephone numbers but they are all either dead or I get no answer. Their website is useless too.

“I think they’re awful, actually.”

SEE MORE: Halfords: Winchester reacts to news of shop closure

Shuropody on Winchester High Street (Image: Sebastian Haw)

At least seven members of lost their jobs when the shop closed on June 19 – they were notified the day before that they would have to pack up the stock.

The chain's Salisbury branch is to be closed on June 30 for the second time in just over a year. It was reopened last November after having shut in July 2023.

The news comes after a spate of closures in Winchester with Bell Fine Art, Ecco, Mooch, Phase Eight, CCG, Pavilion and Patisserie Valerie all announcing their closures this year.

The Chronicle approached Shuropody for comment, but so far has received no reply.