Bosses at department store House of Fraser have warned more shops are set to close, despite "green shoots" of recovery for the troubled retailer.

In the summer of 2018, Sports Direct took over the chain which it later described as being in "terminal decline" after it had fallen into administration.

There are House of Fraser stores in Maidstone and Bluewater.

But 18 months on, Sports Direct says the chain is finally seeing improvement - but that some stores still remain unprofitable.

In its half year financial report published this morning, the firm's chief executive, Mike Ashley, said "it is safe to say an awful lot of work has been done by many people of all levels to bring what was...an unmitigated disaster into a functioning state".

It added: "We are tackling these problems and trying to build a business with a future, a future for Frasers that is hopefully 'bright'.

"We are doing as much as we can to realistically save as many jobs and stores as possible however, despite our best efforts, there are still a number of stores which are currently paying zero rent and that are unprofitable and thus not sustainable. We are continuing to review the longer-term portfolio and would expect the number of retained stores to continue to reduce in the next 12 months."

Chairman David Daly added: "We are starting to see the green shoots of recovery as we continue to integrate the business into the group.

"We are hoping that the political waters will be calmer in the coming months which will allow us to move out of this period of market unpredictability. This will enable us to plan appropriately for the future which is critically important."

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