A local butcher has vanished two days before Christmas after taking cash all year for turkeys (Picture: Facebook)

Customers from a small North East village have been left outraged after the local butcher’s shop shut down without notice just two days before Christmas.

Villagers from Easington Colliery, County Durham, had been paying Whitwells Butchers in installments over the past year to help ease the burden of the cost of living at Christmas time.

But just two days before the big day, customers were shocked to find the shop shuttered up and a note on the door informing them that bailiffs were intending to take control of the store’s goods following a ruling from the High Court to recover unpaid debts.

Since then, the butcher has not responded to any phone calls or messages from irate customers, leaving people in the village unsure of what’s happened to their money, or what will become of their Christmas dinners.

It is thought that up to 150 customers had for their hampers in installments throughout the year, with amounts varying from £20 to nearly £200.

Customers arrived to collect their Christmas hampers only to find the shop was shuttered and a note from stating bailiffs were seizing the shop’s assets and property (Picture: Facebook)

Following news of the butcher’s abrupt closure many customers took to Facebook to voice their displeasure, with most claiming they’d paid at least £50.

Many people claim they had paid for orders in advance as late as Monday before the notice was served on the shop.

Callum Williams, who lives on the Coppice estate in the village, claims his mother-in-law had paid more than £100 in advance in installments and that they’re unsure of what will happen.

‘It’s a very deprived area,’ he said, ‘one elderly lady that I know of had been paying £2 a week because it’s all she could afford.

‘I’m really concerned about elderly people who aren’t on social media who will be turning up to collect orders that they’ve already paid for.’

Easington Colliery was home to the last coal mine to close in County Durham, which resulted in the loss of 1,400 jobs in 1993. It was later used as the location for filming Billy Elliot – standing in as the fictional village of Everington.

Whitwells did not respond to requests for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

It is thought up to 150 customers had purchased Christmas hampers from the butchers before their abrupt disappearance.