The John Lewis At Home store in Swindon will close permanently.

The company confirmed this morning the Mannington Retail Park shop is one of the four At Home stores it plans to shut. The others are in Croydon, Newbury and Tamworth.

But the John Lewis Outlet store at the Swindon Designer Outlet will reopen on July 30. 

It is thought 1,300 jobs will go as a result of the four At Home closures, together with those of the two travel hub shops in Heathrow and St Pancras and full-size department stores in Birmingham and Watford.

A statement from the John Lewis Partnership said: "If redundancies are confirmed, every effort would be made to find new roles where possible for Partners who wish to remain within the Partnership.

"Opportunities could include transferring to local Waitrose shops or working for johnlewis.com and waitrose.com as they continue to grow."

The company added the eight stores had already been identified as 'financially challenged' before the pandemic and the coronavirus has accelerated the process. 

Sharon White, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership said: “Closing a shop is always incredibly difficult and today’s announcement will come as very sad news to customers and Partners.

"However, we believe closures are necessary to help us secure the sustainability of the Partnership - and continue to meet the needs of our customers however and wherever they want to shop.

"Redundancies are always an absolute last resort and we will do everything we can to keep as many Partners as possible within our business.

“There are many reasons to be optimistic about the Partnership’s future. Waitrose and John Lewis are two of the UK’s most loved and trusted brands and we have adapted to the challenges of the pandemic by responding to the new needs of customers.

"We will soon announce the output of our strategic review which will ensure our brands stay relevant for future generations of customers.”