Fresh doubt has been cast over the future of Carlisle’s House of Fraser store after its embattled owner warned investors that more closures are on the cards.

Controversial businessman Mike Ashley – who bought the department store chain out of administration last year – reportedly told Sports Direct investors at a meeting that there will be more House of Fraser closures in the short term.

It brings renewed uncertainty to House of Fraser stores across the country which had previously been spared the axe following Sports Direct’s £90 million takeover.

The Carlisle store had been earmarked for closure under company voluntary arrangement (CVA) rubber-stamped by its then Chinese owners, before the company was snapped up by Mr Ashley in a pre-pack administration deal.

Shortly after the deal was announced, Sports Direct said it had "agreed commercial terms" for House of Fraser to remain at 26-40 English Street.

The agreement was celebrated by businesspeople and politicians who feared a significant number of jobs losses and damage to the city’s retail offer.

Around 150 people work at the store – 67 directly for Sports Direct and the remainder for operators of concessions.

However, the future of the store and the wider chain has been cast in doubt following a tumultuous few days for its new owner.

Shares in Sports Direct plunged to a record low on Monday after the company delayed publication of its results for a second time after it emerged the company owed the Belgian authorities 674 million euro (£605 million) relating to VAT charges on goods moved within the EU.

According to The Financial Times, Grant Thornton are set to quit as Sports Direct’s auditor after learning of the tax bill just hours before Sports Direct’s results were due on Friday.

While the results, eventually published on Monday, showed sales were up, underlying pre-tax profits - the company's preferred measure - fell 6 per cent to £287.8 million.

In the results, Ashley described the state of House of Fraser as “terminal”, after the company itself admitted it would have thought again about taking over the company in August last year.

The FTSE 250 business has also been hit by high profile resignations, with chief financial officer Jon Kempster resigning just weeks after Karen Byers, head of retail, quit, and company secretary Cameron Olsen headed for the door.

The situation represents a dramatic unravelling of a deal that many had hailed as a new chapter for House of Fraser – itself now 170 years old – and rare signal of positivity on the UK’s struggling high street.

The Carlisle store was one of 31 under threat under the previous CVA, but resurrected by Mr Ashley, who declared his ambition to transform the chain into the “Harrods of the high street”.

in-Cumbria understood that the store was profitable before it was initially earmarked for closure.