IKEA has confirmed it will shut its first large UK store.

The Swedish retail chain confirmed it will shut its Coventry store after first arriving in the country 33 years ago.

The company said it will close the doors of its £35 million branch, which opened at Christmas in 2007, with 352 workers expected to lose their jobs.

The Swedish furniture and home improvement giant added the site in the city centre was too expensive to keep operating and had lost customers to retail parks and online shopping.

In a statement, Ikea said: "The store was built over seven levels, which resulted in a significant impact on the operating costs of the store and the shopping experience for customers.

"In addition, the changing behaviour of customers in the area who prefer to shop in retail parks and online has resulted in visitor numbers being substantially lower than expected and continuing to decrease over time.

"These factors have led to the store making consistent losses."

The company said it tried a number of initiatives to keep the store open but "these have not resolved the fundamental challenges connected to the location and the format of the store".

The European multinational has 433 stores worldwide, with 18 in the UK, and employs around 21,000 people.

What ever happened to the Lancing IKEA proposal?

Plans for an Ikea superstore and 600 homes will go ahead, the Government confirmed in May 2019.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed it would not be called in to review the £150 million development in Lancing.

The application from New Monks Farm Development, a subsidiary of Brighton and Hove Albion FC, is for land between Shoreham Airport and the Brighton and Hove Albion FC training ground.

Thirty per cent of the homes will be affordable and 108 families from Adur’s housing waiting list will get the chance to move to the new development.

Plans include the provision of a new roundabout on the A27, a country park, land for a school and a community hub.

A team from law firm DMH Stallard were responsible for the planning application.

The building work will also see the Withy Patch Gypsy and Traveller site moved and expanded.

Adur District Council’s planning committee approved the proposal for the New Monks Farm development in October 2018 subject to it being referred to the Secretary of State for Communities.

The council received notification from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government it would not be called in yesterday, meaning the decision to approve the application stands.

But there has also been criticism of the decision by those opposed to the development.