Good news as Debenhams Bedford spared from closure - for now

The struggling retailer has published details of 19 stores which will shut this month - and thankfully, Bedford does not make the hit list.

Debenhams entered into administration last year and announced a Company Voluntary Arrangement involving the closure of around 50 shops over three years.

The retailer has now confirmed 19 of its stores will close their doors between January 11 and 25. Hundreds of workers will be affected.

There is nothing to suggest the Bedford store in the High Street will be named in the next wave of closures - but it hasn't been ruled out either.

The company has blamed its problems on the decline in high street shopping and the struggle to compete with the internet.

No doubt the news will be welcomed by shoppers after Bedford Today revealed in November how River Island would be the latest store to leave the town - hot on the heels of Top Shop and M&S.

Here's the full list of stores which will close this month:

Altrincham, Greater Manchester

Birmingham The Fort

Kirkcaldy, Fife

Walton-on-Thames, Surrey

Wandsworth, London

Wolverhampton

Chatham, Kent

Great Yarmouth

Slough, Berkshire

Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham

Welwyn, Hertfordshire

Witney, Oxfordshire

Ashford, Kent

Canterbury, Kent

Eastbourne, East Sussex

Folkestone, Kent

Southport, Merseyside

Southsea, Portsmouth

Wimbledon, London