Barrow Boots stores set to close according to staff

Employees working for the health and beauty retailer have told The Mail about the alleged closures of the Portland Walk and Risedale Road branches.

When contacted, a spokesman from Boots refused to confirm the news, stating that it was their policy to tell all their employees before the media.

The spokesman said: "In June, our consolidation process was announced, which will see store closures across the country.

"The scheme will ensure that the shops that do close are no more than two kilometres away from another store, meaning that the communities affected will still be served."

Two members of staff have separately come forward claiming that the store on Risedale Road will be closed, along with the shop on Portland Walk (Image: Google Maps)

If the news is true, this would leave the store on Duke Street as the sole surviving Boots in Barrow.

When the nationwide closures were originally announced earlier this year, Boots clarified that they would not result in any redundancies.

Read more: BAE submits plans for Portland Walk transformation in Barrow 

Employees currently contracted to the closing shops will be given the chance to continue working at a different location.

Roughly 300 stores will be closed as part of the 'consolidation process', reducing the number of UK shops from 2,200 to 1,900.

Five branches across the nation are set to disappear later this month, with subsequent closures happening after the festive season.

The potential Barrow closures may not come as a shock to locals with Portland Walk especially seeing a number of shops leaving the high street.

In October the O2 store closed its doors after a company review following in the wake of businesses including Topshop, River Island and Pandora over recent years.

In contrast BAE has recently submitted plans to convert some empty shops in the hope that this could catalyse a rejuvenation in the area.