The future of Oakham's Wilko remains uncertain as Poundland looks set to take over up to 71 Wilko stores.

As reported by Sky News, the Pepco Group will rebrand the Wilko branches, adding 71 stores to the Poundland franchise.

This comes after the Leicestershire-born homeware chain, owned by the Wilkinson family, fell into administration last month. This put 12,500 jobs and 400 stores at risk.

A deal with HMV collapsed last week, meaning that there is still uncertainty for many stores.

B&M will be saving 51 stores, although it is unclear if jobs will also be safe. Meanwhile, Poundland has said that priority will be given to Wilko staff once rehiring commences.

Between the Poundland and B&M takeovers, 122 stores and a potential 3,200 jobs will be saved.

The locations of the branches acquired by B&M are yet to be revealed because they are subject to a confidentiality agreement, the administrators said.

The administration group, PwC, said the 71 stores in the deal with Poundland's owner Pepco include the following branches:

• Aberdare
• Alfreton
• Alnwick
• Altrincham
• Ammanford
• Ashby
• Barking
• Bedminster
• Beeston
• Bicester
• Bishop Stortford
• Bletchley
• Bolton
• Brentwood
• Brigg
• Cambridge
• Chepstow
• Coalville
• Cramlington
• Droitwich
• Eccles
• Edmonton Green
• Ellesmere Port
• Ferndown
• Gateshead
• Grays
• Greenock
• Grimsby
• Havant
• Hayes
• Headingley
• Hessle Road - Hull
• Hillsborough
• Hitchin
• Jarrow
• Killingworth
• Kimberley
• Lee Circle
• Leek
• Leigh
• Lichfield
• Maidenhead
• Matlock
• Melton Mowbray
• Nelson
• Northallerton
• Orton
• Pembroke Dock
• Peterlee
• Pontefract
• Pontypool
• Redhill
• Redruth
• Ripley
• Rugeley
• Sale
• Seaham
• Selly Oak
• Shrewsbury Darwin Centre
• South Shields
• Southport
• Stafford
• Stamford
• Stockport
• Thornaby
• Wellington
• Wembley
• West Ealing
• Wombwell
• Worcester
• Worksop

As such, the future of Oakham's branch remains uncertain.