Toys R Us is to shut all 100 of its UK stores after administrators failed to find a buyer for the collapsed retailer, resulting in the loss of 3,000 jobs.

The toy chain appointed Moorfields Advisory to oversee an administration at the end of February.

But on Wednesday, staff were told that no buyer has been found for Toys R Us and that all stores will close.

It is thought that Moorfields will now begin a six-week "wind down" of the store estate.

Moorfields will begin with the closure of at least 26 loss-making stores earmarked late last year, when Toys R Us pushed through a restructuring before its demise.

An official announcement is expected later on Wednesday.

Toys R Us is one of the nation's biggest toy retailers, employing more than 3,000 across 100 stores in the UK.

Moorfields said at the time of the chain's collapse that it is making "every effort" to secure a buyer for all or part of the business, but no suitor materialised in what is proving to be a dire time for high street retailers.

The retail sector has had a dismal start to 2018, with the collapse of Toys R Us and Maplin and a host of firms undergoing painful restructurings, including New Look and eateries run by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, as well as Byron and Prezzo.

High street chains across the board have been hit hard by falling consumer spending, soaring Brexit-fuelled inflation and competition from online rivals.

Toys R Us is to close all of its 100 UK stores.
Those that will remain open until further notice are:

The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle
Craigleith Retail Park, Edinburgh
Glasgow The Forge, Glasgow
Helen Street, Glasgow
Thistle Marches Shopping Centre, Stirling
Metro Retail Park, Gateshead
The Kingsway Park, Dundee
The Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland
Teesside Retail Park, Teesside
Castle Court Shopping Centre, Belfast
Deepdale Retail Park, Preston
The Mall, Blackburn
Sprucefield Park, Lisburn
Union Square, Aberdeen
Gelderd Road, Leeds
Paisley Street, Liverpool
Europa Boulevard, Warrington
Central Retail Park, Manchester
Ings Road, Wakefield
Peel Centre Trading Park, Stockport
Chester Retail Park, Chester
Broughton Retail Park, Broughton
Frenchgate Shopping Centre, Doncaster
Meadowhall Retail Park, Sheffield
Kingston Park, Hull
Spire Walk Business Park, Chesterfield
Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent
St. Peter's Retail Park, Mansfield
Queens Retail Park, Stafford
Wyvern Way, Derby
The Sidings, Lincoln
Victoria Centre, Nottingham
Riverside Park, Nottingham
Merry Hill Retail Centre, Dudley
Wolverhampton Road, Oldbury
Highcross Shopping Centre, Leicester
Oakenshaw Road, Solihull
Cross Point Business Park, Coventry
Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough
Weston Favell Centre, Northampton
Towcester Road, Northampton
Castle Quay Shopping Centre, Banbury
St Ann Road, Gloucester
The Leisure Plaza, Milton Keynes
Interchange Retail Park, Bedford
Parc Tawe, Swansea
Botley Road, Oxford
Cribbs Causeway, Bristol
Queens Arcade, Cardiff
Westwick Street, Norwich
Oxford Road, Swindon
Gipsy Lane, Luton
Roaring Meg, Stevenage
Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe
Queensgate Centre, Harlow
Intu Uxbridge Shopping Centre, Uxbridge
Reading Gateway, Reading
Great Cambridge Road, Enfield
Brent Cross, Brent Cross
London Road, Ipswich
Elmsleigh Shopping Centre, Staines Upon Thames
Whiteleys Shopping Centre, Bayswater, London
Newbury Park, Ilford
Church Street, Woking
Priory Retail Park, Colliers Wood, London
Bell Green Retail Park, Sydenham
Southernhay, Basildon
Trojan Way, Croydon
Shopping Centre, Bromley
Lakeside Retail Park, Thurrock
Western Esplanade, Southampton
Horsted Retail Park, Medway
Nuffield, Poole
Ocean Park, Portsmouth
Goldstone Retail Park, Brighton
Stores included in the restructuring closure programme and their respective closure dates are:
Aberdeen - Wednesday 14th March
Basingstoke - Wednesday 7th March
Belfast - Tuesday 13th March
Birmingham - Sunday 11th March
Bolton - Thursday 15th March
Bradford - Thursday 15th March
Brislington - Tuesday 13th March
Cambridge - Saturday 10th March
Cardiff - Thursday 15th March
Derry City - Monday 12th March
Doncaster - Saturday 10th March
East Kilbride - Sunday 11th March
Exeter - Friday 9th March
Hayes - Wednesday 7th March
Kirkcaldy - Monday 12th March
Leicester - Saturday 10th March
Livingston - Tuesday 13th March
Old Kent Road - Thursday 8th March
Plymouth - Friday 9th March
Scunthorpe - Friday 9th March
Shrewsbury - Monday 12th March
Tamworth - Friday 9th March
Tunbridge Wells - Thursday 8th March
Watford - Saturday 10th March
York - Monday 12th March