Staff at three shops throughout South Cumbria are in danger of losing their jobs after a chain of convenience stores confirmed that it will be collapsing into administration.

Convenience chain Mccoll's confirmed the news on Friday - putting 1,100 shops and 16,000 workers at risk.

Mccoll's is currently operating stores on Ruskin Avenue in Dalton, Central Drive in Ulverston, The Square in Milnthorpe, as well as at Market Street in Kirkby Stephen.

Staff at the shops will be anxiously watching developments over the coming days and weeks as negotiations to come up with a solution to save the chain are ongoing.

The troubled retailer held talks with its lenders on Friday morning in the hope they could extend their loan agreements.

Supermarket giant Morrisons, which is a major wholesale partner, also tabled a last-ditch effort to but the business.

However, the company confirmed: "The lenders made clear that they were not satisfied that such discussions would reach an outcome acceptable to them."

McColl's said the company would now appoint administrators from PwC in an effort to 'preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees'.

The company said it hoped the administrators would help to 'implement a sale of the business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible'.

It is understood that Morrisons is still interested in a takeover, while Sky News has reported that forecourt giant EG Group is interested in a deal.

Earlier on Friday, Morrisons tabled a rescue deal that would also take on the business as a going concern, absorb its debts of over £100 million, and take responsibility for the company’s pension scheme.

The two businesses are major partners, with McColl's operating hundreds of convenience shops under the Morrisons Daily brand.

McColl's has struggled financially in recent years after witnessing soaring costs due to supply chain disruption, inflation, and its large debt burden.

On Thursday evening, McColl's had said it was in talks over "potential financing solutions" to resolve its funding issues.

Shares in McColl's were suspended earlier this week after the company delayed the publication of its latest financial results due to its financing talks.

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