THE Bolton branch of British Home Stores will close its doors for good on Saturday.

The store, which has been in Victoria Square for 50 years, will be closed down at the weekend, with all staff being made redundant.

The closure comes as the entire BHS company is wound down - with the overall loss of more than 11,000 jobs at 164 stores across the UK.

Administrator Duff & Phelps closed down 20 stores on Saturday, affecting 580 staff, and will shut a further 30 shops on Saturday, including Bolton, affecting another 700 employees.

Bolton Council said it has been working with staff at the Crompton Place store in a bid to get them back into work in the town.

The authority also said it is now looking to work with the shopping centre's owners, Santander, in a bid to bring another business in to the large site that will be vacated when BHS shuts.

Council leader Cliff Morris said: "It is very sad to see BHS go from Bolton and it will be missed - but this is a national thing.

"We have been working with staff at the store and conducting workshops with them in an effort to help them find new employment opportunities, especially in the town centre."

He added: "We have also requested a meeting with the Santander as we would like to discuss how we can help with bringing another retailer into the centre to replace the BHS store."

The news of the Bolton store's closure comes on the day that a damning report into BHS's ownership under retail billionaire Sir Philip Green was released.

The tycoon was branded the "unacceptable face of capitalism" as a parliamentary inquiry found he systematically extracted huge sums from the collapsed store group while leaving its pension fund in deficit.

Sir Philip and his family pocketed £400 million in dividends during his 15-year ownership of the company, with BHS's pension scheme nursing a £571 million deficit when it fell into administration.

In response, Dave Gill national officer of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers said: “This damning report outlines some extraordinary events and raises serious questions about corporate governance and business probity.

The consequences of actions by a handful of people in the running of BHS are now being felt by the 11,000 hard working, dedicated and loyal staff with 20 stores closed last Saturday and another 30 due to close next Saturday.

"Many of these staff have given their whole working lives to the company and they must be feeling devastated and totally let down."

He added: "We are providing the support, advice and representation our members require at this difficult time.”