WILKO has reassured its customers in Basingstoke that the town’s branch is not closing after concerns were raised that it has been short of stock for months.

Customers were concerned that the branch in The Malls may be added to the list of those closing because the store has not been fully stocked since the beginning of the year.

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However, a spokesperson for Wilko has confirmed that the Basingstoke branch will remain open and explained that the problems with stock are down to “distribution issues”.

They added: “We appreciate that some customers in our south England stores may have not been able to access the items they need in recent weeks due to some distribution issues, which is why we’re working hard to turn this situation around, and to get our stores and stock levels back to where they should be within the next few weeks.

“We want to thank our team members for helping to get the products our shoppers need in place and in-turn want to thank our loyal customers, including those in Basingstoke, for their patience while we improve their shopping experience.”

In January, Wilko announced plans to close 15 of its stores this year in what the retailer described as a “long-term growth strategy”.

Basingstoke was not one of those on the list.

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