The owner of a bridal studio has donated wedding dresses, veils, and shoes worth more than £40,000 to a charity shop.

Staff at the Oxfam branch were overwhelmed by the generous gesture, which has led to a major revamp of their store and means brides-to-be can pick up a bargain ahead of their big day.

Judy Mott gave away the stock of her self-titled bridal couture shop in Sussex Mews, Tunbridge Wells, after she retired in December, after 33 years of trade.

Manager of the Oxfam, in Mount Pleasant Road, Sally Lewis, described her colleagues’ excitement about receiving the gift.

The 57-year-old Sally Lewis from Wadhurst said: “I got a very excited Whatsapp message, I think they couldn’t believe the quality of goods she was bringing in and giving to us.

“The dresses ooze quality.”

The donations included more than 20 wedding dresses with original tags worth around £2,000-£3,000 each, along with 20 veils, mother-of-the-bride outfits, page boy waistcoats, bridal shoes and jewellery.

Sally, who has worked at the store for two-and-a-half years, said she didn’t have a bridal section before the donation but will now keep a permanent section inside the shop.

She added: “I think we will raise a lot of money for Oxfam from this stock. It will take time because they’re not fast sellers but the word is getting out that we have this beautiful donation.”

The dresses had been reduced by Judy Mott as part of her retirement sale in November, but based on the original tags the items are worth more than £40,000.

Judy told KentOnline: “I closed my bridal studio and workshop in December last year and donated all my remaining dresses to Oxfam.

“I was very happy to think that some brides would be able to buy a beautiful wedding dress at a fraction of the usual cost and that Oxfam would benefit too.”

To create the bridal section inside Oxfam it took two employees a whole day to clean the store, merchandise all the donations and replace the window display because they “wanted it to look like a wedding shop.”

Since launching the bridal section Sally says she has noticed an increase in footfall, with one person asking whether the shop was new.

Some customers have even said they want to get married again after seeing the display.

Three dresses have sold already since the donation, at the end of February.

The 57-year-old said: “Everyone is saying it looks very beautiful and they can't believe it’s a charity shop.”

Oxfam workers said Judy told them she wanted to give the dresses to Oxfam because “she felt we would give her dresses the respect they deserved and would display them beautifully and thought this was a lovely shop.”

Sally said: “We really appreciate that everything means something to someone, so everything is always presented nicely and put on the shop floor.

“We work very hard to make this shop a really lovely environment for shopping and give the same service that you're getting all other shops.”

The shop offers a selection of pre-loved wedding dresses from around £75-£100 and is pricing the Judy Mott gowns at around £300-£400, a fraction of the original cost.

The dresses are mostly size 12 and can be adjusted.

The Oxfam store, in Mount Pleasant Road, is open from 9am-5pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am-3pm on Sunday.