The head office of WH Smith refused to be drawn on whether it is even considering closing the Frome branch as it announced national job losses.

The company sent a statement to Nub News revealing that as a result of the coronavirus crisis it expects to lose about £75 million pounds.

In total the company has 575 stores open, but has warned that customer numbers are down and revenues have been hit.

In a trading update the company said that Group total

revenue would be down between 80% and 85% from April until 31 August 2020 and that it will have to impose job cuts.

The statement implied that shops which host Post Offices - which does not include the store in the centre of Frome - may be better protected along with bigger stores.

The statement continues: " As a result of the impact on passenger numbers and lower footfall on the UK high street, we have taken the difficult decision to review our store operations across both our Travel and High Street businesses.

"We are now starting a collective consultation on a proposed restructure which could lead to up to c.1,500 roles becoming redundant. This has been a very difficult decision and we are committed to supporting all our colleagues throughout this process and ensuring it is conducted fairly."

Meantime after announcing last night (August 4) that 50 M&Co stores would be closing, the store in the centre of Frome did not re-open today, to the shock of those shopping in the Westway.