A BUSINESS which has a shop in Worcester is set to close 60 of its stores by June next year.

Mothercare has announced that a number of shops will shut, but it has not confirmed if the Crowngate shop in the city will be amongst them.

The closures will put 900 jobs at risk, with the company wanting to inform staff before confirming which of their shops will shut.

The retailer said it was putting its Childrens World division into administration, but that 13 of these 22 stores would be saved.

Mothercare has cleared a restructuring plan known as a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA), an insolvency procedure that required the approval of the retailer's landlords.

The group has also undertaken a fundraising initiative to raise £32.5 million from its existing shareholders.

Mothercare has identified savings of £19 million through the process, and hopes to realise £10 million in cash.

Clive Whiley, Mothercare's interim executive chairman, said: "When I joined the business just three months ago, Mothercare faced a bleak future with growing and pressing financial stresses upon the business.

"We have worked tirelessly as a team to get to where we are today and this fully underwritten equity issue marks the end of this initial phase, returning the group to financial stability."

In morning trading, Mothercare's shares were down 9 percent or 2.45p to 26.15p.

He said the UK market was "frankly quite brutal" and that Mothercare was looking for opportunities to grow sales internationally.

In May, Mothercare unveiled a £72.8 million pre-tax loss in the year to March 24, which compares with a £7.1 million profit in 2017.

The store closures come at a dismal time for the high street.

Since January, Toys R Us and Maplin have filed for administration, while fashion retailers such as New Look, Carpetright and others have embarked on radical store closure programmes.