THE Blockbuster store in Marlow is set to close after all despite not being on the initial axe list - leaving a number of staff redundant.

The film rental company went into administration in January, having struggled to cope with the rising competition from online firms in recent years.

Closing down signs have been erected and Smithfield, dealing with the public relations on behalf of the administrator, has confirmed the West Street shop is on the latest list of 100 more set to go.

Initially it appeared the Marlow store might escape but that hope has now disappeared.

The store is holding a closing down sale.

A dedicated employee helpline is in place and the company is running an programme to help those staff facing redundancy find other jobs.

Smithfield said all closing stores will remain open for business as usual and customers will be notified in advance of closure so that they can return their outstanding rental items beforehand. The standard rental terms and conditions remain in place during this time.

Lee Manning, Joint Administrator, said: “We have continued to review the performance of individual stores since our appointment a month ago and have concluded that further closures are necessary in order to restructure the company for sale.

"We would like to thank the company’s employees for their support and professionalism during this difficult time and we are also grateful for the continued support of customers. We are in discussions with a number of parties interested in purchasing all or parts of the business and will update on progress in due course.”

Food giant Morrisons announced this week that it is set to take control of 49 of the Blockbuster stores around the country to turn into convenience shops. However, the locations have not yet been revealed and the company said today this will probably not happen until the end of the week.