THE former Wilko store in Chester city centre will become a Poundland shop, it has been confirmed.

The large store on Foregate Street closed on October 8, one of the last in the UK to close its doors when the high street retailer collapsed.

Just over two months later, the store will be reopened as Poundland on Saturday, December 9.

It will mean the closure of the current Poundland store in Frodsham Street, where a 162-bedroom hotel development with a rooftop restaurant was given planning permission 12 months ago. It also means Poundland is relocating to a larger store.

All new Poundland stores – both Wilko and non-Wilko units – will feature the latest Pepco family clothing that has rolled out to 560 of Poundland’s existing UK and Ireland stores. The clothing ranges feature new ranges from lifestyle and athleisure brands such as Cardio Bunny and Bekkin and a significant increase in the space dedicated to baby and kidswear.

Austin Cooke, Poundland’s managing director said: "We excitedly continue to open and relocate stores at pace so we can bring our best offer, including all-new clothing, chilled and frozen food to customers, existing and new.

"The monumental effort from our teams continues to amaze me, and it supports jobs and high streets right across Britain.

"That’s 86 stores in 70 days that we’ll have opened successfully, and no one should underestimate the effort and energy that our teams have put into delivering that achievement – I certainly don’t. It’s phenomenal."

Over 800 former employees of Wilko have been offered roles at Poundland since the brand went into administration.

The former Wilko shop in Ellesmere Port was one of the first in the UK to be reopened as Poundland, opening on October 7.