MARKS and Spencer stores in East Lancashire have survived the latest cull of stores announced by the retail giant.

Northern outlets in Barrow, Buxton, Boston, Huddersfield, Hull, Northwich and Rotherham are among the 17 confirmed for closure.

But the retailer's branches in King William Street, Blackburn, and St James Street, Burnley, are not among those to be immediately axed.

Bosses have only so far released the names of 55 of the 100-plus stores they are expected to shut though.

More than 1,000 employees will be affected by the moves, which also affects locations in Ashford, Bedford, Cwmbran, Deal, Felixstowe, Huddersfield, Antrim, Luton, Newark, Sutton Coldfield and Weston-super-Mare.

M&S says it will now enter a period of consultation with affected employees, with the intention of retaining as many as possible.

So far nearly 1,900 workers have been hit by the closures programme. But the firm insists 1,591 of them have been been redeployed to new roles.

Sacha Berendji, retail, operations and property director at Marks & Spencer, said: "We're continuing to transform M& S with pace and as part of this we are making good progress with our plans to close over 100 stores - radically reshaping our store estate to become more relevant for our customers.

"Proposing to close stores is never easy, for our colleagues, customers or the local community, but it is vital for the future of M&S.

"Where we have closed stores, we are continuing to see an encouraging number of customers choosing other nearby locations and shopping on M&S.com."