Homebase plans to close 42 of its 241 stores as part of a drastic turnaround plan that could leave as many as 1,500 workers out of a job.

The ailing DIY retailer said it needed to close the shops to hack away at “unsustainable” rent costs after a slump in sales and profitability under its former owner, Australia’s Wesfarmers, and amid tough times on UK high streets.

It plans to carry out the closures towards the end of of this year and in early 2019 through a controversial insolvency process known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which will need the approval of its landlords and creditors in a vote at the end of August.

Homebase said the closures were likely to lead to around 1,500 job cuts but insisted “every effort will be made to redeploy team members within the business where possible”.