BOTH of Irvine’s Poundworld stores are to close this week, with the loss of 25 jobs. 

The town is one of the hardest hit by the latest closures announced by the discount store. 

The stores in the Rivergate and Riverway retail park were given a short-lived reprieve, not featuring in the announced closure of 105 Poundworld units across the UK last month.

But last week it announced another 40 closures, seven of these in Scotland, including Irvine. The Riverway unit had only opened in May 2016.

The loss of 25 jobs - 13 at the Rivergate and 12 at the Riverway store - is the highest in the UK for closures in one town.

It follows the failure of administrators Deloitte to find a buyer for the national chain. 

Deloitte say that they are still working to sell “part, or parts of the remaining business”.

The affected stores will close on Tuesday, July 24.

Joint administrator Clare Boardman said: “We would like to thank all the employees for their continued support and commitment during this difficult time.

“We are keeping staff appraised of developments as they happen.”

There have been national reports that the founder of Poundworld, Chris Edwards, had been unsuccessful in a bid to save a number of stores and around 3,000 jobs. 

It has also been claimed that the founder of the rival Poundland business, Steven Smith, was also looking to parts of the Poundworld portfolio.

The other Poundworld premises closing in Scotland are in Aberdeen, East Kilbride, Perth, Queensferry and Robroyston.

As well as the seven shops north of the border, there are a further 33 closing in other parts of the UK bringing the total to 145 across the country. 

The company has seen a rapid fall. In 2016 it has been named as one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK. But the impact of Brexit and the falling value of the pound had meant the cost of importing goods had rocketed. It also struggled as it competed with Poundland and Poundstretcher.