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.