A closing County Durham Wilko store has posted an emotional goodbye message on the same day it shut its doors for good. 

Shoppers in Seaham have been left without its Wilko store after it closed on Tuesday (September 19) - leaving shelves bare and an empty shop in the seaside town. 

The store in Seaham is just one of several closing in the North East, with Bishop Auckland and North Shields already closing their branches, while further closures in Newton Aycliffe, Redcar, Byker and Gateshead are also coming this week.

Read more: Wilko: What will happen with the 22 North East stores?

As part of the closure in Seaham, Byron Place Shopping Centre in the town posted a farewell message for the shop on behalf of those who work at the shop.

The post from Byron Place Shopping Centre reads: "It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that our Wilko store will be closing down on Tuesday, September 19.

"The dedicated store team wishes to thank you all for your custom over the years

"Here at Byron Place, we will do everything we can for the staff. We wish them the very best of luck for the future and you will be so very sadly missed."

While the message was reacted to with sadness, it's not all doom and gloom for the store, which will become a Poundland in the future. 

It comes after a number of Wilko stores in the North East have been snapped up by competitor Poundland after a deal to save Wilko by HMV collapsed. 

The business deal will see the leases of nine Wilko North East stores taken over by the thrifty retailer, administrators PwP has said. 

Nationally, the Pepco Group will rebrand 71 former Wilko branches as Poundland and hire new staff, prioritising those who previously worked staffed the shops. 

All of Wilko’s 400 shops will close by early October, according to administrators from PwC.

Last week, administrators confirmed rival discount chain The Range has snapped up Wilko’s brand, website and intellectual property.

Wilko recently suspended its home delivery service online, telling customers it is unable to deliver any orders and instead instructing shoppers to use its click-and-collect service or look for items in its stores.

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Zelf Hussain, joint administrator, said: “Despite the significant and intensive efforts of both ourselves and Putman Investments - the remaining party interested in buying a significant part of the business as a going concern - a transaction could not be progressed due to the inability to reduce central infrastructure costs quickly enough to make a deal commercially viable.

“The dedication shown by all team members during this period has been hugely humbling and we are grateful for the patience and understanding they have shown.

"As with those who have already been given notice of redundancy, we will guide and support those team members impacted over the coming weeks through the redundancy claims process.

"We also continue to collaborate closely with relevant agencies and engage with any potential employers to help facilitate a quick return to new employment for those impacted.

“We continue to work with potential buyers for different parts of the business and are confident of completing transactions in the coming days.”