High street stalwart and household name WH Smith has announced it plans to close stores after revealing a fall in profits.

The stationer and games, music and DVD retailer saw profits fall to £60 million - down three per cent.

Although it was bolstered by a rise in profits at its travel arm, which were up seven per cent to £103 million to the end of August.

It revealed it was conducting a review of its operations which would result in the closure of six of its high street stores, but did not reveal where those were at this stage.

The stores were described as those "impacted by onerous leases".

Group profits fell four per cent to £134 million. Turnover was down three per cent for its high street stores and up eight per cent for travel.

Stephen Clarke, chief executive of WH Smith, said its travel arm continued to perform strongly.

WH Smith currently has 286 shops across 27 countries. It has opened 42 new stores this year alone including in Europe and South America.