HIGH street stores are using misleading signs and slogans to entice shoppers, a consumer watchdog has said.

Shops in Southend and Basildon town centres are displaying cleverly-worded banners which could be misread to suggest they have closing down sales.

Clothes shop MK One has covered its window displays in Southend and Basildon with “clothing down sale” signs.

Sportswear company JJB is advertising a “price shut down sale” at its Southend branch.

Shoe shops Priceless and Barratts both advertise “close out” sales in Basildon.

Although the shops, none of which are closing down, are doing nothing illegal, watchdog group Consumer Direct has called for Trading Standards to investigate whether the campaigns contravene the advertising code of practice.

Traders say the sharp economic downturn has forced them to come up with new slogans to attract people. Kelly Hamlin, supervisor at Mkone in Southend, admitted she had to point out to many customers the store is not actually closing.

A JJB marketing spokeswoman, who would only give her name as Lynne, said: “It is just a sale used across the brand. It has not long been up.

“We have done different types of slogans over a number of years. I do not think customers think we are really closing down, and know we have good bargains.”

Shoppers passing Barratts and Priceless Shoes in Basildon were asked by the Echo what they thought the signs meant.

All replied they believed the shops were closing. Passers by also said they would be more likely to go into a shop which was having a closing down sale.

Claire Wilkinson, from Wickford, said: “You can’t blame them for trying, but it’s misleading. Using that term does get more people to have a look inside.”

Both shoe stores are owned by Barratts, which began using the tactic this year.

Trainee supervisor Wendy Spendlove, at Barratts in the Eastgate Centre, said: “It would be called a closing down sale if we were closing.

“I have been working here for four-and-a-half years and we usually have a sale, then the final reductions, but this is a new term.”

An assistant manager of Priceless shoes, who asked not to be named, admitted customers had been confused by the term.

She said: “We do get people asking if we are closing down and we have to put them right. It does not actually say we are closing down and we do explain.”

Both stores said the American phrase meant old stock being sold off at half-price in preparation for new lines.

Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium said shops were not misleading the public.

He said: “The idea or expression of a close out sale is a common expression in American retail and can mean either a closing down sale or a clearance sale.

“They are not trying to mislead anybody, they are trying to attract customers.

“There are lots of different expressions used when it comes to price reductions.”

Stuart Barber, consumer advisor at Consumer Direct, said: “It does put a mindset into people to believe it is closing down and it is a thin line as to what it is misleading and what is not.”

David Slipper, Trading Standards officer at Southend Council, said: “We would need to see what is going on and see what the non-biased person’s view of it is.”