ALMOST 500 jobs have been axed this week after a Runcorn building company collapsed.

R Stewart Group Ltd has more than 40 sites in the region and has operated Stewart Mechanical Services in Runcorn and Rogersons Development Ltd in Liverpool for more than 20 years.

Accountants at Ernst & Young were appointed as receivers on Thursday afternoon and staff were informed of the redundancies the following day.

The company had been in financial difficulty for some time and Ernst & Young started carrying out an independent business review several weeks ago.

Delia Seel, spokeswoman for Ernst and Young, said: "Having carried out a substantial review on Friday, the redundancies have taken place. The intention is to sell the business and we are looking for prospective buyers.

"We are speaking to customers and employees and if the customer agrees to honour the contract then we will continue the work. Obviously all future contracts are under review bearing in mind so many redundancies have been made."

She added that while everything was being done to salvage the jobs, no suitable buyer had come forward.

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