HIGH winds caused structural damage at several stores in Charlton’s retail park yesterday, forcing three of them to close.

A spokeswoman for Greenwich Shopping Park confirmed three shops had shut due to apparent storm damage.

She said: “Building surveyors were called to inspect the buildings and advised Outfit and WHSmith to remain closed until further inspection today. The River Island store was allowed to reopen today.

“We are working closely with the surveyors to ensure the safety of our staff and shoppers before reopening the stores.

"We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”

One customer told News Shopper that Outfit “had a huge piece of display fall off the wall and smash”.

An Outfit spokesman said: “I can confirm that due to the adverse weather yesterday the Outfit store on the Greenwich Shopping Park was forced to cease trading as strong gale force winds caused damage to the roof.

“Surveyors are on site today and Outfit is not open for trade.

“We apologise to those affected for the inconvenience, but would stress our number one priority is to the safety of our staff and customers. As soon as the building is deemed safe, we will resume trading.”