With fears over the possibility of two major retail stores closing their doors in Bicester people are concerned it signifies the ‘death of the high street’.

WHSmith in Crown Walk will close its doors on August 30, and it is unknown if and when the Bicester branch of Wilko will close, but the company announced its entry into administration earlier this month.

Kate Hicks, a sales assistant at WHSmith, said: “It’s a shame, my job has worked very well around my life for the last year.

“I’m certainly sad to lose that aspect. We’re going to have to find new jobs now, head office have said we can be moved into the stores in Oxford or Buckingham if we want to, but I don’t want to commute out of Bicester.”

The store in Bicester has been open for 35 years, and Mrs Hicks said she found out that WHSmith will close down last Tuesday, August 8.

She had this to say about the general health of Bicester town centre: “We do seem to have a lot of empty units around.

“I’ve always thought Bicester could do with more high street stores, to create a higher footfall. More variety would be good for the town.”

A WHSmith spokesperson, who confirmed the store will be shutting, said: “The landlord has agreed a new letting of the unit and unfortunately as a result we will be closing our store on August 30.

"We are disappointed to be losing our presence in Bicester and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us.

“We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in-store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”

A staff member in Wilko, in Bicester’s market square, said he was not allowed to speak with the press.

A spokesperson for Wilko said: "Wilko will continue to trade in all stores without any immediate redundancies as discussions with interested parties continue."

Some people in Bicester have argued the high street is not dying at all.

Emma Gould, who runs the Friday market in Bicester, as well as a picture framing stall with her husband Richard, said: “It’s silly to think the high street is busy every day, but on Friday there’s plenty of footfall, some of my traders have been taking record amounts recently.

“Traders began to do really well during the pandemic because when big supermarkets ran out of fruit, and eggs, and other produce, the traders simply got their products directly from source, so they always had stock.

“One of our cake traders, Boles Bakery, has been so successful they managed to open a store on Crown Walk, and another has opened a store in Banbury.

“It isn’t great that some high street stores are closing down, but the town centre does still have a lot to offer.

“I personally think the market brings people into the town.”