HMV has dismissed claims that its stores in Bolton and the surrounding areas are under possible threat of closure.

The company responded to a report in The Bolton News on Monday, which said that London property agent CB Richard Ellis had been instructed to review the company's entire portfolio of stores that trade under the Waterstone's and HMV names as part of a project to sell between 10 and 20 Waterstone's stores after its takeover of rival book chain Ottakar's.

But the company said that rumours of possible closures in Bolton were based on "ill-founded speculation," and confirmed it was committed to the town "for many years to come."

A spokesman for HMV said: "Like any retail organisation, HMV constantly reviews the stores that it operates to ensure they are in the best location to make its offer available to its customers in the most convenient way possible.

"So while there may be a small number of stores around the country that we may wish to relocate from time to time or, occasionally, even close if there is another HMV nearby, more often than not, we are actually looking to open new stores, resulting in a net overall increase in the size of the chain.

"I am very happy to confirm, therefore, that there is no foundation whatsoever in the ill founded speculation that HMV is planning to close its stores in Bolton or in its surrounding areas. We are very proud to have had a store in Bolton for more than 25 years and look forward to providing a service to our customers for many more years to come."

A spokesman for Waterstone's said its consolidation of Waterstone's and Ottakar's is still taking place, but said there are "just 32 overlap locations in a combined estate of 338 stores."

The nearest overlap location to Bolton is in Lancaster. HMV and Waterstone's stores in Bolton employ a combined total of 23 people.