POUNDLAND'S Chester store will be placed in temporary "hibernation" as part of the third England coronavirus lockdown.

Despite being allowed to trade as an essential retailer, the Poundland store on Frodsham Street will be shutting its doors from Saturday, January 9.

It is part of the retail chain temporarily closing 44 stores nationally, and comes in response to an 80 per cent drop in footfall in some shopping centres and high streets as the UK faces stricter restrictions following a rapid rise in coronavirus cases in the UK.

The chain said the majority of its 800+ stores will remain open for business to serve their communities.

In the first 2020 lockdown, Poundland closed around 120 stores in March and was able to start reopening them from the end of May.

The move allows it to focus colleagues in a slightly smaller number of locations and provide better service to communities in consolidated stores.

In the majority of locations where Poundland is hibernating, there is another store that remains open nearby.

Where appropriate, colleagues in hibernating stores will be placed on furlough in an effort to protect those roles for the future.

Austin Cooke, Poundland’s retail director said: “We learned valuable lessons during the lockdown in March about how buying patterns change as people stick to government advice to stay at home.

“Putting a small number of stores into hibernation helps protect them for the long term and focus our attention on the majority of stores that remain open to serve their neighbourhoods.

“We hope this lockdown is short and we can reopen our hibernating stores as quickly as possible and we remain grateful for the vital support schemes available to us that help protect jobs.”