High street hell as wave of shops to close for good TODAY including Boots and WHSmith

THE high street continues to face hell as a wave of shops are set to close for good TODAY.

Customer favourites including particular branches of Boots and WHSmith will bring down their shutters for the final time today as the demand for in-person shopping continues to plunge.

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With the cost of living crisis, high inflation and rising energy costs continuing to batter Brits, retailers are baring the brunt of it.

At the end of last year, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a record 345,000 businesses closed in the last year.

Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found the UK had lost 6,000 stores over a five-year period.

Several brands have also collapsed and disappeared from our high streets forever, such as Wilko and Paperchase.

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In the latest blow, six major chains will shut up shop in just hours.

Stores including Next, Boots, The Entertainer, Iceland, Clarks and WHSmith are the latest to suffer.

Locals up and down the country will be affected by the cease of trading.

Shops closing today are:

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• Next, Hatfield, Hertfordshire
• Boots, Lothian, Scotland, and in Bryn, Greater Manchester
• The Entertainer, Stafford
• Iceland, Mansfield
• Clarks, Witham, Essex
• WHSmith, Alfreton, Derbyshire.

Despite the closures, it's not all bad news for shoppers as some retailers are expanding.

The Sun recently revealed discount retailer Costco is branching out in the UK with plans to open 14 more warehouses over the next two years.

Bonmarche is opening at least seven new stores after filing for administration in 2019, while The White Company is also opening new locations.

We also revealed that the once-huge bakery chain Patisserie Valerie, which also collapsed and closed most of its stores, has started reopening branches.

Bakeries Wenzels, Greggs, Dunkin' Donuts and The Cornish Bakery are all in the process of expanding too.