by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Two Kent Blockbuster stores are among 129 due to close over the next few weeks.

The DVD and video games rental company collapsed into administration last week, the latest high street victim of online competition and digital downloads.

The stores in Rainham and Ramsgate have been earmarked for closure. Two other outlets, in Ashford and Sevenoaks, had already been scheduled to close before the latest announcement.

With each store employing around five staff, an estimated 20 jobs will be lost in Kent and Medway.

A further nine stores - in Maidstone, Chatham, Tonbridge, Folkestone, Tunbridge Wells, Gravesend, Margate and Dover - are continuing to trade normally while administrators at Deloitte seek a buyer. But they warn that there may be further closures in coming weeks

There will be a phased closure of the 129 branches, including the 31 already put on notice of closure.

Stores will remain open for business as usual and customers will be notified in advance of closure so that they can return their outstanding rental items beforehand.

Staff facing redundancy are being offered help in finding a new job through an employee assistance programme, although with thousands of staff already laid off by Comet and Jessops, which both folded in recent weeks, it will not be easy.

Lee Manning, joint administrator, said: “Having reviewed the portfolio with management, the store closure plan is an inevitable consequence of having to restructure the company to a profitable core which is capable of being sold.”