BARROW'S Marks & Spencer store is set to remain open for at least another two months, The Mail can reveal.

Marks and Spencer on Dalton Road was initially set to close in November 2019 to coincide with the opening of a new M&S foodhall at the Beehive site in Ulverston.

However, due to construction delays the completion date was then put back, with bosses stating the opening would be in spring 2020.

In October The Mail revealed a revised opening date of March 2020 had been confirmed but this was pushed further back.

The opening date was then scheduled for Wednesday May 6 due to delays in construction of the foodhall.

Now, as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, and with construction of the foodhall suspended, the Barrow store is not expected to close until at least June.

M&S bosses said the Barrow store will not close until the day before the foodhall opens. The Barrow store will continue to sell food but the clothing and homeware sections are closed.

An opening date cannot be confirmed because of uncertainty over the coronavirus lockdown.

Simon Layton, M&S Head of Region for the North West, said: “Supporting communities and our customers during the current unprecedented health crisis is our priority, so we have made the decision to delay the planned closure of our Barrow store.

"Due to the current situation, we are unable to complete work on our new Foodhall in Ulverston.

“We think it’s important that there is a M&S Food store in the local area during the coming weeks, so we will continue to provide a full food offer to customers in Barrow, until we are able to open the new store in Ulverston.

“We appreciate that some people were hoping for an earlier opening date in Ulverston, but we believe this is the best decision to ensure there is no disruption to our service for local residents.

"We will keep the community updated, but want to reassure customers that our Barrow store will remain open during this period.”