A year after the closure of Woolworths, Chris Walker is still looking for a job.

The father-of-two had worked for the firm for 21 years and was a quality assurance technician in Castleton when the High Street giant collapsed.

Since the firm closed, he has applied for 100 jobs, but without success. Chris, 58, from Ashton-under-Lyne said his experience showed the hidden human cost of Woolies' failure.

He told how he has suffered 'rejection after rejection' despite applying for scores of jobs – from office work to the retail industry – and has gone from earning £18,000 a year to £60 Jobseekers' Allowance a week. He is now retraining to be a driving instructor but remains uncertain of his future.

He said: "Spending a year out of work is an awful experience and something I wouldn't want anyone to have to go through.

"I've applied for around 100 jobs without success – I've only had a couple of interviews and it was pretty much 'thanks, but no thanks'.

"The credit crunch is making things much harder – more people are unemployed and everyone seems to be going for the same kind of jobs.

"My age is definitely against me and the whole experience has been horrible."

Chris lives with his wife Susan, 50, a council worker, and explained how being made redundant has affected his family life.

He added: "I did get a small amount of redundancy but that's pretty much gone now so it's tough. Fortunately my wife is in work so that makes things a little easier but we are struggling and it's tough on the people around you.

"It's really depressing – it gets you down and you can see no light at the end of the tunnel. I go every two weeks to the job centre and staff try to help but there doesn't seem to be enough jobs to go around. But I'm not the only one - there are thousands of people in the same position."