B&M is set to buy 51 Wilko stores across the UK in a deal worth £13 million.

The budget chain has agreed the deal with administrators as its rival battles against redundancies.

It is not currently known if B&M will be taking on any of Wilko’s 13 stores across Kent.

Bosses at Wilko announced the move to enter administration earlier this month, after spending weeks searching for a deal which could have saved them.

A bid to buy the struggling retail chain fell through on Thursday, putting about 12,500 jobs on the line across the UK.

The first redundancies at Wilko - more than 250 jobs at its support centre in Worksop and 14 others at a subsidiary firm - started on Monday.

It had been reported earlier last week that private equity firm M2 Capital had made a £90m bid for the business, pledging to “retain all employees' jobs for two years”.

The latest offer, which was first reported by the Guardian, was said to be one of several schemes being considered by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after it set a bid deadline of last Friday.

It had also been previously reported the owner of HMV, Canadian businessman Doug Putman, was also interested in salvaging some of the Wilko business. It is understood his bid would seek to keep the majority of Wilko stores open.

However, the GMB Union confirmed that the only bid to buy the entirety of the store had fallen through, with staff redundancies to begin next week.

Now, rival discount retailer B&M has confirmed its plans to purchase a total of 51 of the 400 Wilko stores across the UK for the price of around £13 million.

B&M have been contacted for more information.