A city centre bathroom store has been saved from closure after the chain was bought out by home improvement retailer Homebase.

The Bathstore on Norwich's Queens Road is one of 44 stores which have been saved in the deal after the chain went bust.

The sale has secured the jobs of the 154 employees at these stores.

Bathstore had 135 stores when the business entered administration and employed 531 employees.

MORE: Whirlpool recalls half a million tumble dryers amid fire scandalThere have been 159 redundancies to date through the administration process. About 200 employees are working at the shops which are set to close when the stock is sold.

Ryan Grant, who was a joint administrator with BDO business restructuring, said: "In a difficult situation, we have been able to secure the future of the Bathstore brand and the transfer of 44 stores to Homebase to maximise realisations for creditors and protect as many jobs as possible."

Homebase will also open a significant number of Bathstore concessions in its own stores over the next 18 months.

The bricks and mortar retail offer will be supported by Bathstore's digital business, which will continue to trade independently from the Homebase website.