Clothes shop M&Co will be leaving Alton High Street at Easter after the Scottish chain previously known as Mackays announced it was closing all of its 170 stores with the loss of 1,910 jobs.

It appointed administrators for a second time in December after previously collapsing in 2020, when it lost 47 stores and 380 staff but its assets were immediately bought back by the family who built it up.

The brand has been bought by AK Retail Holdings, which owns plus-size retailer Yours Clothing, but the purchase did not include the shops.

An M&Co statement on Facebook said: "Unfortunately we haven't received the news we would have hoped for during our administration period, and would like to share this news with you.

"As we haven't received any funded, deliverable offers that would result in the transfer of the company's stores or staff to a potential buyer, this means that all of our stores will close."

Mackays was established as a pawnbrokers in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in 1834. It switched to selling clothes in 1953, led by brothers Len and Ian McGeoch, and was re-branded as M&Co in 2005.