John Lewis at Westgate Centre Oxford is to stay open as eight stores are shut

After closing stores last year the company which also owns Waitrose said it would close eight more.

Now it has identified these outlets, including department stores in York, Peterborough, Sheffield and Aberdeen, with the potential loss of almost 1,500 jobs.

Oxford has survived the cut, which means it keeps one department store for now, after Boswells and Debenhams closed.

Read again: Could John Lewis at Oxford Westgate close?

John Lewis, which reported its first full year loss earlier this month, said it would also permanently close four 'at home' stores, which specialise in homewares, in Ashford, Basingstoke, Chester and Tunbridge Wells. All stores are currently closed because of the government’s coronavirus lockdown but the eight will not reopen when the rules change on April 12.

The latest closures come after John Lewis permanently shut eight stores in 2020 amid a shift to online shopping, which has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Online trading now accounts for three-quarters of the department store’s sales and the closures indicate the retailer thinks that won’t change when the shops reopen.

City and town centres around the UK are reeling from dozens of department stores shutting in the past two years after the collapse of Debenhams, which two years ago still had more than 160 stores, and Beales, which had 22 stores. House of Fraser and Marks & Spencer have also been closing outlets.

Department stores, which have been the focal point of town centres for more than 100 years, and more recently the crowd-pulling anchor stores of big shopping centres and retail parks, have suffered from a mix of rising costs and changing consumer habits.

The switch to online shopping was hitting department stores hard before the pandemic forced them to close.

Sharon White, the chairwoman of John Lewis Partnership, said: "Today’s announcement is incredibly sad news for our affected partners, for our customers and for the communities we’ve served over many years.

"The high street is going through its biggest change for a generation and we are changing with it.

"Customers will still be able to get the trusted service that we are known for – however and wherever they want to shop.”

Five of the shops that are closing have been opened since 2010 – a £20m refurbishment of the Peterborough store was only completed in 2019.