Fate of Wilko stores in Milton Keynes is revealed as official closure list is published

The Wilko store in Bletchley has been confirmed as one of 52 shops that will close next week after the company has failed to secure a rescue deal.

Meanwhile the fate of the city’s other large Wilko store at Kingston shopping centre remains unknown.

Yesterday (Tuesday), rival retailer B&M bought up to 51 Wilko stores in a deal worth up to £13m but it is not yet known whether the Kingston store was one of these.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the company overseeing Wilko’s insolvency last month, says it is still talks with parties interested in buying the remaining parts of the business. But they admit it is “possible thatfurther store closures may regrettably be necessary.”

Bletchley’s Wilko will close next Tuesday, September 12. It has been an integral part of the town for years and residents have already taken to social media to say how much they will miss it.

"The staff there are so lovely. It’s such an important part of Bletchley and the town won’t be the same without it,” said one

Others fear the closure will be a death knell for Bletchley’s Queensway, which has seen a string of other stores shut over the past couple of years.

Staff working at the stores affected will be made redundant.

Edward Williams, joint administrator, said: "Very sadly store closures and redundancies of team members from those stores are now necessary.

"The loss of these stores will be felt not only by the team members who served them with such dedication... but also the communities which they have been a part of."