Shopping giant Marks & Spencer has announced it is closing its landmark Middlesbrough store.

The shop in the Hill Street centre on Linthorpe Road will close within a few weeks, with the doors shutting for the final time in April.

Staff were told the devastating news earlier today when bosses said the decision was part of wider transformation plans.

A spokesperson said the company would be offering colleagues alternative roles with M&S wherever possible.

Regional manager, Craig Baldock said: “Shopping habits are changing, and this means we need to focus our investment on the right stores in the right places so we can provide the very best shopping experience for our customers.

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"As part of this transformation, we have today announced to colleagues our proposals to close our Middlesbrough store in April 2023.

“This has been a tough decision but means we can invest in many of our twenty-one other stores in the Northeast including M&S Teesside, so we keep pace with the demands of our customers today and in the future.

“Our priority now is to talk to our colleagues about what this announcement means for them and to support them through these changes.”

The news is particularly shocking because only yesterday, the company announced £480million plans to ramp up its store nationally with aims to open 20 new shops across the UK in a move that will create more than 3,400 jobs.

The Northern Echo: The iconic M&S branding is disappearingThe iconic M&S branding is disappearing (Image: PA)

The group said that over the next financial year, it will open eight full-line stores in shopping centres such as the Bullring in Birmingham and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, as well in as retail parks and high streets across key cities.

It also will also open 12 new food halls, including in Stockport, Barnsley and the seaside town of Largs in North Ayrshire, Scotland.

But alarm bells started ringing when the group said then that its wider restructure of its retail footprint means that it will reduce the number of its full-line stores by 67 to 180 by early 2026.

Chief executive Stuart Machin had insisted stores were a “key part” of the group’s future, alongside online trading.

He said: “Our store rotation programme is about making sure we have the right stores, in the right place, with the right space.”

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The group said it was committing to retail space at a time when many rivals are retrenching from the high street and switching to online only, but wanted to open “bigger, better stores”.

The group confirmed that while 20 stores have been lined up for launch in 2023-24, it can only announce the locations of nine of these sites so far.

The announcement comes after M&S recently emerged as one of the winners of the Christmas trading season, with a 6.3% rise in like-for-like sales across its food halls in the 13 weeks to December 31, while it saw clothing and home comparable store sales rise 8.6%.