HIGH street camera chain Jessops has closed its shop in The Malls in Basingstoke after the company went into administration.

It is one of 187 stores in the UK which shut last Friday, resulting in 1,370 job losses.

The six members of staff at the Basingstoke store were involved in a conference call at 4pm on Friday, in which they received the news that their jobs had been terminated, with immediate effect.

Jessops went into administration last week and administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) was appointed to handle the business.

A member of staff at the store in The Malls told The Gazette: “We have all been made redundant.”

He added: “I only started a couple of months ago. There was a conference call at 4pm and we were told 10 minutes later.

“The staff were surprised because we didn’t think it would be so quick.

“My understanding is that we were quite profitable. There was a little hope that we would be okay for a while.”

Speaking on Friday afternoon, Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “It is apparent that we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult decision to begin the closure of all 187 Jessops stores.

“Regrettably, this will result in about 1,370 job losses across the stores with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester.

“The stock will be collected over the coming days and returned to a central warehouse. It will be returned to suppliers if they are entitled to it. As a consequence of the closure, Jessops is no longer able to accept returned product from customers.

“This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees.

“We are very grateful for the support we have received since our appointment, and we will continue to ensure that employees are paid as they assist us during the closure.”