WIRRAL is set to lose both of its Wilko stores by next month.

Today (Monday, September 11) GMB Union have announced that all 400 branches of collapsed retailer Wilko will close by early October with the "likely" loss of all 12,500 jobs at the chain.

This means that the Birkenhead and Liscard stores have a maximum of one month left in business with employees set to lose their jobs.

It was announced in August that the department store chain was entering administration, with hopes that a buyer would save it.

Canadian entrepreneur Doug Putman had hoped to buy the business and keep up to 300 stores open, but this fell flat.

In a statement, Mr Putman said: "It is with great disappointment that we can no longer continue in the purchase process for Wilko having worked with administrators and suppliers over several weeks to seek a viable way to rescue it as a going concern.

"A stable foundation could not be secured to ensure long-term success for the business and its people in the way that we would have wanted," he added.

Nadine Houghton, national officer at the GMB union, said: "Wilko was far more than a brand, a retailer or the products it sold, it was the thousands of loyal team members now facing an uncertain future.

"Wilko may have ceased genuinely being a family brand many years ago, but the staff kept the real family ethos of Wilko alive until the very end. It is the family that Wilko colleagues made for themselves that will be missed the most."