The manager of Barrow Business Improvement District (BID) said the face of the town centre would inevitably change as Debenhams became another big name to announce it was teetering on the brink amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 242-year-old department store giant, which has a branch in the centre of Barrow, said it would be winding up its UK operations if no buyers for the company were forthcoming.

Barrow BID manager Colin Garnett described it as a "huge blow" to the town centre but stressed that the clothing industry had been struggling for years. He said the pandemic, with its enforced shop closures, had "restricted a comeback" for Debenhams.

The Debenhams news comes on the back of the announcement that Arcadia Group – behind brands including Burton and Dorothy Perkins – had gone into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

Mr Garnett said the demise of such high street names would mean the look of Barrow town centre would inevitably change.

“I’ve got no doubt that we’ll have to shrink the footprint of the town centre in terms of retail," he said.

“We’re going to have to create a mix of business and residential in the town centre, so it’s not going to be as reliant on just retail.

"We need to increase the offer, so we need to get more things that are going to attract more people into the town.

"Can it become more of a community and social hub?

"Can we get more outside eating and drinking into the town?

“We want more independent shops.

"We want more specialist shops.

"We want to help the market traders to grow and to nurture their businesses.

"We want more hospitality and leisure.

"We want more residential and office space.”

Barrow and Furness MP Simon Fell described the Debenhams and Arcadia Group news as a "devastating blow to high streets everywhere, but particularly to towns like Barrow."

"We need massive reform of the high street – from cuts to business rates, to greater support for innovative new companies to start up and make places like Dalton Road a draw again," he said.