A Carlisle supermarket is to close – but a bargains chain is taking on the site, saving the jobs of nearly 30 staff.

The Co-operative store in Wigton Road will shut its doors next month, after bosses decided to pull the plug as part of an ongoing review at the company.

The firm confirmed the move to the News & Star, revealing it had sealed a deal to sell the site to B&M, which already has two stores in the city.

B&M says it will revamp the shop, which sits in large grounds on a prominent position near the junctions with Bower Street and Bassenthwaite Street.

The Co-op pledged that all staff would transfer to the new shop.

The move is the latest development in Carlisle’s ever-changing supermarket scene and represents another expansion in B&M’s slice of the retail market in the city.

It already has stores in the city centre and on the St Nicholas Gate Retail Park, off London Road.

A spokesman for The Co-operative Food said: “I can confirm that we have agreed to sell our food store in Wigton Road to B&M.

“All 27 employees will transfer to the new store when it re-opens as B&M.

“The decision to sell this store has been made as part of our on-going store review process.”

He said there were no current plans to sell any more stores in north Cumbria, adding: “This store is scheduled to close on February 20.”

It comes days after Lakes & Dales Co-operative announced its store in Burrowgate, Penrith, will shut for good on Friday, February 12

A B&M spokeswoman said: “The store on Wigton Road will undergo a comprehensive internal and external refurbishment programme.”

This site has changed hands a number of times since the 1990s, having previously housed a Kwik Save store and a Safeway shop.

The supermarket options in this corner of the city were transformed by the arrival of Sainsbury’s in 2012. Aldi’s third Carlisle store also began trading in July in Dalston Road.