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Yorkshire’s main streets will become quieter as they are affected by more lockdowns.

Argos, Boots and B&Q will close some of their branches this weekend as part of Sainsbury’s plans to shed 50 standalone branches by the end of this month.

MailOnline reports that B&Q in Sheffield’s Drakehouse retail park is among those set to close. Other places in Britain that will see closures include an Argos in Lanarkshire, Scotland and Boots stores in Malvern, near Worcester and Ellesmere Port near Chester. The Sun reports that the closures come on the same day that B&Q says goodbye to eight of its mini-branches inside Asda supermarkets.

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A B&Q spokesperson told MailOnline: “To adapt to changing consumer demand for speed and convenience, B&Q has been testing smaller store formats on high streets, in retail parks and in concession formats within Asda stores. Thanks to our “test and learn” approach, we continually collect feedback from customers and colleagues, which helps us evolve the shopping experience in these smaller stores.

“We have decided to focus on developing our plan for smaller street formats. We recently launched our new small format store brand, B&Q Local, with an eye to expanding into more locations and as a result will close eight small concession stores within the Asda stores. All employees have been offered alternative employment in nearby stores.”

A Boots spokesperson said: “Boots has over 2,200 stores across the UK. We continually review locations to ensure they are where our customers need us most and it is never a decision we take lightly when looking to close a store. Two stores: The Port Arcade store in Ellesmere and the Church Street store in Malvern will close tomorrow as part of previously announced store closures – in all cases, there is an alternative Boots store less than three miles away.

“Affected team members have been offered opportunities at other stores in the local area. Nearby Boots stores will continue to offer pharmacy services and customers can find their nearest store on Store Locator (boots.com).”

Marks and Spencer is another name closing stores across the country, including one in Meadowhall, dealing another blow to Sheffield’s shopping industry. The department store announced last year that it would close 67 larger stores as it looks to open more of its popular Foodhalls in a bid to save £300m, including a £100m reduction in the energy bill.

M&S chief executive Stuart Machin said the retailer aims to have 180 “full line” stores selling food, clothing and home goods by early 2028, up from 247.

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