THE Widnes branch of Index will be spared in a takeover.

The staff are some of the lucky few to survive a national buy-out by Argos.

The store will be refitted and will re-opened as an Argos, saving 21 jobs.

It is one of 33 Index stores that Argos has bought for £44m - the remaining 33 Index stores will be closed by their parent company, Littlewoods.Only around 800 people out of 4,000 employed nationwide by Index will keep their jobs. The Widnes store, to be found in Green Oaks shopping centre, will be renamed in July and the staff will be retrained.

Argos spokeswoman Denise Bigwood said the company is confident the store will be able to survive alongside the existing Argos store in nearby Albert Square.

"We have no plans whatsoever to close either store," she said.

"We are confident they will both be viable. We bought the Widnes store because of the good location."

Argos managing director Sara Weller said: "It's great news for the town. I'm delighted to be able to welcome our new colleagues to the Argos team."

Argos already has more than 590 stores in the UK.

It is owned by GUS, and last year had sales of over £3bn - compared to £75m for Index.