Two of the branches are located in Bournemouth – on Southbourne Grove, and Wimbourne Road – and the others are on Riley Square in Coventry, on Melbourne Street in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, and a branch attached to a GP surgery in Portishead, near Bristol.

A further branch will close in Salisbury – on Minster Street – next week (March 13).

The seven pharmacies are part of the 190 “commercially unviable” Lloydspharmacy branches in England where parent company Celesio UK is ceasing trading. C+D has now confirmed the location of 54 of these pharmacies (see map below). The multiple would not confirm the remaining 136 branches.

Commenting on the closure of Lloydspharmacy at 41 High Street, Biggleswade, the town's deputy mayor Madeline Russell told C+D that she had received reports of “long queues to see the pharmacist or pick up prescriptions” at another Lloydspharmacy in Biggleswade, on Market Square.

“I rather think things are going to get worse,” she told C+D. “It’s a shame because we need more pharmacists,” she added.

Lloydspharmacy response

A spokesperson for Lloydspharmacy confirmed to C+D today (March 6) that service at the Market Square branch "has been below the high standards that we set ourselves" since its High Street branch closed at the end of January.

"Since closing our store on the High Street, we have experienced a higher than anticipated demand which, combined with personnel challenges and the bad weather, has resulted in slower than normal service," Lloydspharmacy said.

"The team are working hard to clear the backlog with regional management support, and we hope to be back to our normal standards as soon as possible."

The multiple said it would "welcome the opportunity to discuss [Ms Russell's] concerns in more detail".

C+D has tried to contact the Market Square branch for comment.

“A sign of the cuts”

Following the closure of the Lloydspharmacy branch at Harbourside Family Practice in Portishead, near Bristol, Avon local pharmaceutical committee (LPC) chief officer Richard Brown told C+D “it is sad that a key pharmacy in a GP practice has found itself unviable”.

“It is a sign of the [funding] cuts” in England, he said.

“The Portishead population will still have a range of pharmacies close by that they could use,” he stressed.

Where else has Lloydspharmacy ceased trading?

You can use C+D's map to view the location of each of the 54 Lloydspharmacy branches so far confirmed for closure or sale.

Branches confirmed for closure are marked in purple, while Lloydspharmacies up for sale are marked in blue. The branches that have already been sold are marked in orange.

This map is live, and will be updated as C+D confirms the locations of further affected Lloydspharmacy branches.