Sky News wrote this afternoon (May 28) that sources close to Boots' parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance had told it that the company has "placed more than 200 outlets under review for possible closure during the next two years".

"An insider said that some of the affected sites would close at the expiry of their leases, while others would be part of a consolidation in towns which currently have two separate Boots stores," Sky News said.

In response, Boots told C+D it does "not have a major programme" of closures envisaged, but added: "As you'd expect, we always review underperforming stores and seek out opportunities for consolidation.

"Whenever this happens our focus is on transferring colleagues to other stores and that local communities have access to a pharmacy service.

"As is natural with a business of our size, we have stores opening, closing and relocating on a regular basis, but we have had around 2,500 stores open for several years now," Boots said.

"We are being realistic about the future and that we will need to be agile to adapt to the changing landscape," it added.

Last month, Walgreens Boots Alliance backtracked on comments it made alongside its latest financial results, which were "much weaker than expected", stressing that there is no "major" review of low-performing pharmacies in the UK.