A DISCOUNT chain will close its Aberystwyth store next week – just two years after opening.

Poundworld was said to have created 30 jobs when it arrived on the Ystwyth Retail Park on Park Avenue in April 2016, taking over the former Brantano shoe store.

Manager Dewan Islam told the Cambrian News that the closure was “very disappointing” for himself and the staff, many of whom have been there since it opened.

Mr Islam said: “We have 11 members of staff here and it’s always sad to see it close.

“Staff have been offered jobs at other Poundworlds, but I am not sure if those offers will be taken up.”

The nearest Poundworld to the Aberystwyth branch is in Carmarthen.

Poundworld, a rival to Poundland which has a store on Great Darkgate Street, said before it opened that the company had been looking at Aberystwyth as a destination for one of its stores “for over a year”.

Just 24 months later, however, it has launched a huge closing-down sale – getting rid of all existing stock at half price – ahead of its planned closure on Tuesday, 17 April.

See this week’s Aberystwyth paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now