Staff of the Southend-based Essex Furniture chain - which has stores across the South-East - were today waiting to hear whether they will keep their jobs in a mass round of shop closures.

Administrators said 19 stores have been earmarked for closure.

Among them are the Furniture Workshop outlets in Basildon and Lakeside. It is not known how many jobs are threatened.

Both are "likely to close" when administration to secure the firm's future is completed by High Court-appointed Arthur Andersen.

The south Essex stores are among those across the country performing "least well financially", according to a spokesman for the administrators.

It is believed that Essex Furniture stores in Southend and Leigh will be among the 34 stores to survive the slump in demand.

The administrators want to reduce the chain - which has 260 employees - to a core of 15 stores before selling the business or negotiating a voluntary agreement with the chain's suppliers and creditors. The spokesman said it was not known when the closures would happen or which stores, if any, could be saved.

He added: "They won't necessarily all close, but they are likely to. It all depends on the stock clearances and how everything is organised."

Huge discounts and clearances of up to 30 per cent off have been announced for this weekend on a store-by-store basis.

Meanwhile 60 workers made redundant at Essex Furniture's factory in Progress Road, Southend, today told how many were still owed money. One former employee said money, including severance and holiday pay, had still not been paid.

A spokesman for the administrators said those workers who believed they were owed money should register a claim.

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