ANOTHER branch of national chain is due to close in Barrow.

Bonmarche in Dalton Road has begun a closing down sale.

The clothing chain was plunged into administration last year before being saved by the Edinburgh Woollen Mill group.

But now signs placed in the window of the shop say it will be closing down.

It follows a number of national chains to leave Barrow.

Marks and Spencer, Brighthouse, Carphone Warehouse, Thorntons, River Island and Topshop have all closed their doors to Barrow town centre shoppers in the past year.

M&S was the first to announce its closure last year after it was named as one of a 100 stores earmarked for closure by 2022.

Carphone Warehouse shut all 531 of its stand alone shops in April, including in Workington, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Barrow and Penrith, as well as concessions within Currys across the country.

This was followed by fashion traders, Topshop and River Island, who both had stores in Portland Walk.

Both retailers traded for the last time in the week before lockdown restrictions were imposed by the Government at the end of May.

The closures followed the shutting of Thorntons on Dalton Road which announced it would not be reopening when lockdown retail restrictions were lifted.

Steve Simpson, chief executive of the EWM group, said the past seven months has been 'extremely difficult' as he warned normal trading will be 'impossible' in the wake of a second coronavirus outbreak.

He said closures will be 'inevitable' as the brand fights for its survival.

Last year billionaire Philip Day, owner of The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, acquired more than half of the company's shares, triggering a mandatory takeover bid.

Acting through holding company Spectre, the businessman bought more than 26 million shares, representing 52.4 per cent of the company.

It came after Bonmarche, which has several stores across Cumbria, issued its third profit warning in just six months last March.