Telford's Blockbuster DVD store is safe for now

Seventy-two shops across the country will be shut after the company went into administration earlier this month.

But the store in Rampart Way, in Telford town centre, the only one remaining in Shropshire, has been reprieved for now.

Moorfields Corporate Recovery, which is handling the administration, issued a list of the 72 shops which are closing, with the loss of more than 550 jobs.

Joint administrators Simon Thomas and Nick O'Reilly said: "The decision to close some stores has not been taken lightly. However, the remaining stores remain open for business and we are continuing to market the business for sale as a going concern.

"Currently we are offering attractive discounts which are generating additional sales.

"We want to be as open and transparent as possible throughout this process and will hopefully be in a position, within the next seven days, to provide staff and customers with another update very shortly."

Blockbuster has 264 stores in the UK employing about 2,000 people in total. It has been hit hard by competition from supermarkets as well as the rise of online DVD rentals.

A previous period of administration earlier in the year saw the loss of about 300 shops across the country, including those in Shrewsbury and Whitchurch.