High Street giant Next is understood to be close to securing a deal to buy rival fashion chain Fat Face.

If the purchase went ahead, it would mean Next - which has 500 High Street shops - owning Fat Face's 200 stores.

The acquisition could be agreed this week, according to Sky News which first reported the two were close to a deal.

It would mark the latest in a run of High Street buys for Next which has snapped up several chains including fashion chain Joules.

Last year, Next bought furniture brand Made.com, and a minority stake in baby goods store chain JoJo Maman B茅B茅 and more recently it increased its stake in fashion chain Reiss from 51% to 72%.

Next has been using the purchases to beef up its so-called "Total Platform", a suite of online services for third party brands.

This year it bought the floral fashion brand Cath Kidston - but not its stores.

Fat Face was taken over by a consortium of lenders in 2020 when shops were struggling during the Covid pandemic.

But in its latest annual results the retailer said sales were up 15% and profits had jumped.

Last year it was reported that Fat Face had hired investment bank Rothschild to find a buyer for the business.

Next, FatFace and Rothschild declined to comment on the deal.

UK high streets have been under pressure as shoppers spend less during the cost-of-living crisis.

Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - has started to ease after surging in 2022, but it remains high and retail sales are yet to bounce back.