Sports retailer JJB Sports has closed in Riverside, Norwich with the loss of 26 jobs.

Staff were told this morning that the store was one of 133 closing across the country and that they were being made redundant with immediate effect.

The JJB Stores in Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn have also closed, with the loss of seven and 19 jobs respectively.

A notice posted on the window of the Norwich store said, 'Due to circumstances out of our hands we are closed today'.

Sports Direct has acquired 20 of JJB's stores, the brand and website, securing around 550 jobs in the UK, including the staff at the company's warehouse.

But the closure of the remaining 133 stores has resulted in about 2,200 redundancies. A total of 167 employees have been retained to assist the administrators.

Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at administrator, KPMG, said: 'Unfortunately a buyer could only be found for 20 stores on a going concern basis. All staff made redundant as a result of store closures have had their arrears of wages and holiday entitlements paid in full. Our team of employment specialists will be supporting staff on completing redundancy forms and putting them in touch with job seeker services. We will now be reviewing what options are available for the remainder of the business, such as selling leasehold interests.'

JJB's last set of full-year results revealed that like-for-like sales had fallen 13.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of January, leading to a pre-tax loss of �101.1m.

Were you one of the JJB staff made redundant in Norwich? Call reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk