ELLESMERE Port's Kwik Save supermarket will not be handed a reprieve despite 20 stores being reopened nationwide.

Last month we exclusively revealed how the company had closed the Station Road branch, along with 79 across the country, as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

In a shock twist on Friday, Kwik Save revealed it would reopen 20 of its stores. But these do not include the Ellesmere Port branch.

About 20 workers lost their jobs as a result of the closure and they are entitled to a full redundancy payment due on Thursday, June 21.

A Kwik Save spokesman said the announcement to reopen the stores followed 'lengthy discussions with financial backers on the future of the business'.

Usdaw national officer Joanne McGuinness said: 'Kwik Save told us late on Friday that they intend to reopen 20 of the 79 stores they closed as they now believe they are economically viable.

'Kwik Save has written to our members who worked in those stores offering them their jobs back with no break of service.'

Borough MP Andrew Miller was furious with the way the town's store was closed and the treatment of staff.

He said: 'The whole thing is shambolic up and down the country. It's a terrible example of business practice.'