Boots plans to temporarily close 60 of its pharmacies by the middle of next week.  

From this evening [Thursday], 25 London stores will close, with a further 35 stores across the UK due to close on the evening of Tuesday 14 April.

The stores to be temporarily closed are typically in city centre or shopping centre locations and are usually within a few minutes’ walk from another Boots pharmacy.

All customers, and any prescription services, will be directed to the nearest alternative Boots. Any customers who have existing deliveries or prescriptions to collect at any of the affected stores will be contacted by the company over the course of the next few days.

Boots says that the locations where people shop have changed fundamentally in the last few weeks. For example; airport stores and central London stores near offices have very few people visiting them, while local community pharmacies are seeing more than double the number of people requiring prescriptions.

“We need to make sure that we have enough colleagues playing their vital role where it’s currently most needed and that we can send home those colleagues who are working in stores that are not busy. To achieve this, we are temporarily closing a small number of stores that are very quiet at this time.”

The full list of closing stores, together with the nearest alternative store appears on the Boots website