STAFF at Barrow’s Debenhams store are among those who have been told they are being made redundant by the department store chain.

Several workers at the Portland Walk store are understood to have been informed they are being made redundant by bosses from the chain.

It comes as Debenhams announced that 2,500 jobs would go across its stores and warehouses nationally.

It is understood that at least 12 workers from the Barrow branch have been told they are among the redundancies in the last week.

The firm is is looking to slash costs after sales were affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

The department store business is scrapping the roles of sales manager, visual merchandise manager and selling support manager as part of a management restructuring process.

The move comes four months after Debenhams collapsed into administration.

Bosses said they were ‘very grateful’ to those who would be losing their jobs.

A spokeswoman said: “Those colleagues affected by redundancy have been informed and we are very grateful to them for their service and commitment to Debenhams.

“Such difficult decisions are being taken by many retailers right now, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to give Debenhams every chance of a viable future.”

She added: “We have successfully reopened 124 stores, post-lockdown, and these are currently trading ahead of management expectations.

“At the same time, the trading environment is clearly a long way from returning to normal and we have to ensure our store costs are aligned with realistic expectations.”

Debenhams said it has no plans to shut more stores, with rumours swirling over the Barrow site for a long time.

Hundreds of jobs have already been lost at the retailer since the start of lockdown after it permanently shut 18 of its department stores across the country.

In April, Debenhams enlisted administrators from FRP Advisory in a protective measure against creditors demanding their money.