MORRISONS became the latest big name brand to announce it was quitting Accrington yesterday.

The fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK said it was no longer viable to keep its store on the Eastgate Retail Park open.

A spokesman for the Accrington store said: “We have looked extremely carefully at whether the store can be turned around but unfortunately we cannot see a way of making it viable. We are therefore proposing its closure.

“We are consulting with colleagues and unions to reduce the risk of redundancies and we are looking at ways of redeploying colleagues around our business.”

The news came just weeks after both Marks & Spencer, in Broadway, and Homebase, in Hyndburn Road, said they were also closing.

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Hyndburn Council leader, Councillor Miles Parkinson, said: “I had a letter off Morrisons just yesterday. It’s unfortunate and very bad news, especially for the employees.

“The business has not had a good trade over Christmas, and this is a reflection of how cut-throat the supermarket business is.

“We see one supermarket struggling but then we see Lidl further down Hyndburn Road building a brand new store, and you see Asda’s car-park packed out.

He said: “The shopper is extremely savvy and it’s all about quality and price. If you get it right, your business will flourish.

“We want to keep retailers in the town but shoppers will decide where they spend their money.”

Morrisons ousted Dalton Philips as its boss earlier this week after the supermarket’s board called for a “fresh pair of eyes” to oversee the chain’s revival push.

The decision to remove Mr Philips, who has been in charge since 2010, came as Morrisons posted more disappointing trading figures, with a 3.1 per cent slide in like-for-like sales in the six weeks to January 4.

Morrisons insisted the performance was not the trigger for the departure of Mr Philips, who last year announced £1 billion in price cuts over three years and a new loyalty card scheme promising to match discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Incoming chairman Andrew Higginson said: “In the next chapter of Morrisons development, we need to return the business to growth. The board believes this is best done under new leadership.”

The Bradford-based grocery chain also said it was planning to close 10 loss-making smaller stores, putting more than 400 jobs at risk.

Mr Philips is due to leave the chain by the time of annual results in March, when the company’s underlying profits are expected to fall to as low as £335 million.

The company would not say how many jobs will be lost, only that 409 staff members across 10 stores closing nationwide have been affected.

The Eastgate store, 7,552 sq ft in size, opened on June 6, 2011.