Clothes store Uniqlo has announced its closure less than six months after opening in a blaze of publicity.

The store in North Street, Brighton, said it would close on June 23 with the loss of 25 jobs.

The Japanese-owned company arrived in the city in November, claiming to be the more affordable version of Gap and promising well-made basics at reasonable prices.

The store's opening was part of the company's bid to bring to the UK a brand of casual clothing which has revolutionised the way the Japanese dress.

However, just 18 months after opening its first UK store, the company that owns the Uniqlo brand, Fast Retailing, has abandoned plans to have 50 stores here by the end of next year.

It will close 16 stores and concentrate on five remaining outlets in and around London.

The company has 588 stores in Japan and three in China.

Property consultants FPD Savills have been instructed to dispose of the 10,000sqft North Street premises in a prime location on one of city's busiest shopping streets.

Store manager Mark Bulmer said: "It is a company decision made by our Japanese parent company, who have decided to consolidate the business from 21 stores back down to five.

"We have opened 21 stores in the last year-and-a-half. This is one of the stores we really considered keeping open because it's one of the newer stores.

"It may be something to do with where we located or our overall business strategy but it is no reflection on the performance of Brighton as a whole.

"We've gone through the consultation process and are doing everything a large company can do to relocate people within the company or help them find positions elsewhere."

Retailers recorded their worst sales performance for more than a decade in March, according to figures from the latest CBI survey.

Stores including New Look, Next and Marks and Spencer all posted disappointing figures, with flat sales blamed on falling consumer confidence and the struggling tourism sector.