Following the news that local Wilko stores in Abergavenny, Chepstow and Hereford had survived the first round of closures last week, it was announced on Monday that all 400 branches will officially close by early next month; as the rescue deal to save the chain has fallen through.

Last week, 52 stores across the country confirmed that their final days of trading would be Tuesday, September 12, and Thursday, September 14.

There was hope that another 300 stores could be rescued by the billionaire owner of HMV, Doug Putman. But the failure of his bid means the 93-year-old Wilko name will disappear from the High Street in the next few weeks.

The future of the remaining stores was in the balance as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – who are overseeing the insolvency – continued discussions with parties interested in buying parts of the business, with administrators ‘committed to preserving’ as many jobs as possible.

However, this has now fallen through as no other bidders have presented interest in running shops under the Wilko name, although some parties are interested in rebranding their stores.

More than 12,000 jobs look to be at risk, with redundancies now looking likely.

Administrators are likely to be releasing further information soon.