A MAJOR retailer has confirmed consultation has started over the closure ot two town centre stores in the region with almost 130 staff facing job loss.

M&S has announced that it is proposing the closures of its Darlington and Stockton stores and it will be consulting with 82 colleagues at its Darlington store, and 45 colleagues at its Stockton store.

The proposed closures are part of M&S’s programme to reshape its UK store estate.

Including Darlington and Stockton, the company announced that 14 stores are proposed for closure or set to close.

Andrew Crooks, head of region for North East at Marks & Spencer, said: “The decision to propose the closures of Darlington and Stockton was a difficult one and we will be speaking with all our colleagues individually about what is right for them.

“We remain committed to the community and customers can continue to shop with us at our nearby stores, including Teesside Retail Park. Later this year we’ll also be opening our new Foodhall at West Park which will offer our popular M&S.com collect in store service.”

Sacha Berendji, Retail, Operations and Property Director at Marks & Spencer said, “Closing stores isn’t easy but it is vital for the future of M&S. Where we have closed stores, we are seeing an encouraging number of customers moving to nearby stores and enjoying shopping with us in a better environment, which is why we’re continuing to transform our estate with pace.”

Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham has called for a rethink over the Stockton store's future.

“The decision by M&S to close its Stockton store is a huge blow not only to the people who work and shop there, but to Stockton High Street as a whole. Yet again, we are seeing the impact of out of town complexes which have been the death knell for so many towns.

“In recent years, Stockton Hight Street has undergone £38 million worth of regeneration, is attracting new stores, and was crowned High Street of Year, 2016. This announcement flies in the face of this demonstrable upturn in our High Street’s fortunes, and I’ll be writing to the Chief Executive of M&S, to call on him to reconsider this decision.”

David Gill, national officer for shopworkers' union Usdaw, said: "This salami-slicing approach to reorganising the business is extremely distressing for the staff."

"Usdaw has thousands of members working for Marks & Spencer and the staff now need, more than ever, the representation and support of an independent trade union.

"We again urge M&S management to abandon their long-held resistance to recognising Usdaw as the union to represent its staff.

"It is simply unfair that they continue to refuse their staff access to Usdaw, having made the decision on their behalf not to engage with a trade union."