Boots has refused to confirm whether any of its Sussex stores will close as part of plans to lose 300 sites.

The pharmacy chain’s US owners are set to shut down a number of its sites that are close together in order to “focus investment more acutely”.

Now, after being approached by The Argus, the brand said they are yet to release which stores are set to close but will do so in the coming months.

Speaking on the plans, a Boots spokeswoman said: “In addition to uplifting existing stores, over the next year Boots will continue to consolidate a number of stores in close proximity to each other.

Evolving the store estate in this way allows Boots to concentrate its team members where they are needed and focus investment more acutely in individual stores with the ambition of consistently delivering an excellent and reliable service in a fresh and up-to-date environment.”

Boots reported higher than average footfall across its sites but added that online shopping had increased sharply with a 25 per cent rise reported.

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The pharmacy currently has several sites in Brighton and Hove including one large store in North Street, two stores in Kemp Town and two sites in Portslade and Hangleton.

The chain has more than 20 sites across Sussex.

Boots added that over 85 per cent of the stores closing were within 5km of each other. Over 80 per cent of people will remain within a 10-minute drive of their nearest store.

Despite the planned closures, no redundancies are planned as part of the move with staff being offered re-deployment to other nearby sites.

Earlier on Tuesday, Boots revealed a surge in online shoppers and people opting for own-brand labels has driven up sales over the latest quarter.

It came as its US owner, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), revealed its net quarterly profit more than halved as demand for Covid vaccines and testing declined.

Retail sales across Boots jumped by 13.4 per cent in the three months to the end of May, compared to the same period last year.