THE Hove Toys R Us store will not be closed amid pension troubles, according to reports.

Some 3,200 workers across the company’s 106 UK branches were left in limbo over job losses after it emerged on Monday the retailer must front £9 million to secure its future.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), the country’s pension lifeboat, has demanded the money from Toys R Us.

But a national newspaper yesterday reported Toys R Us plans to close at least 26 of its stores by spring next year – but Hove is not one of them.

The site in the Goldstone Retail Park, Newton Road, is the only Toys R Us branch in Sussex.

It will remain, at least, into the beginning of 2018.

However, there could be further closures if Toys R Us cannot agree a company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

Steve Knights, managing director of Toys R Us UK, said: “All of our stores across the UK remain open for business as normal through Christmas and well into the New Year.

“Customers can also continue to shop online and there will be no changes to our returns policies or gift cards across this period.

“Like many UK retailers in today’s market environment, we need to transform our business so that we have a platform that can better meet customers’ evolving needs.

“The decision to propose this CVA was a difficult one, but we determined it is the best path forward to make essential changes to the business.”

A CVA allows companies to pay their debts off over a fixed period of time.

Toys R Us reportedly owes a sum of between £25 million and £30 million in staff pensions.

The £9 million fee proposed by the PPF would have to be paid in two months, though it is believed the toy retailer cannot afford to pay those funds.

The company’s creditors must also approve the plans before they are made concrete, and they are to hold crunch talks tomorrow when a decision will be made.

Bosses say the warehouse-style stores they operate are now too expensive to run.

The Toys R Us website will also be relaunched as the company attempts to catch up with the modern retail environment.

Though the Hove store is not on the closure list, staff are remaining tight-lipped.

When The Argus visited it yesterday, staff were reluctant to speak on the record and asked our reporter to speak to their manager.

The manager said shop employees would not be commenting on the reports and told us we must contact head office for any answers to our questions.

Toys R Us did not reply to our request for a comment about the Hove store at the time of publication.