IT has been reported that Halfords has announced that they will be closing up to 60 stores across the UK as part of a plan to close a tenth of their outlets.

They have said that these closures will happen by April of next year.

Five have already closed as well as 22 of the chain's Cycle Republic branches.

It is currently unknown whether this will impact on the store and motor repair centres in south Cumbria.

This comes despite a spike in bicycle sales heavily linked to the coronavirus crisis.

The well known cycle shop has said they will try to move as many staff as possible to other branches, but has said these closures will mean job losses.

The company is the country's leading retailer of cycling and motor vehicle products and has more than 460 stores, employing around 10,000 people.

Halfords was allowed to remain open throughout the global pandemic and subsequent lockdown, classed as an “essential” business. But the company chose to close sites and operate an employee-only model where customers could make purchases from outside or online, meaning of 335 of Halfords’ 446 retail stores were run as such during the lockdown.