Man cautioned as shoppers flock to JJB sale in Londonderry

JJB Sports on Derry's Strand Road

A 29-year-old-man has been cautioned by police in Londonderry outside a sport shop's closing down sale.

Police were called to JJB Sports on the Strand Road shortly before 23:00 BST on Monday.

The man was cautioned for disorderly behaviour.

Thirty jobs have been lost with the closure of JJB's stores in Derry and Coleraine, with more than 150 jobs going across Northern Ireland with the closure of ten stores.

Only three stores, including the branch on the Strand Road in Derry, are staying open after being sold to Sports Direct.

Twenty-eight jobs have been saved at the Strand Road branch.

University of Ulster retail expert Donald McFetridge said the closure had been on the cards for some time.

"JJB really had lost its vision," he said.

"There is so much competition out there on the high street at the moment, including from Sports Direct who have taken over 20 of the stores, and from JD Sports.

"There was no real point of distinction between JJB and the competition in what is a saturated market."

Mr McFetridge said the company had overstretched itself.

"In some instances they had two stores in one town within a very short distance of each other," he said.

"In effect they were cannibalising their own market. There was no need for the number of stores they had."