THE Peacocks store in Okehampton will stay open as administrators look for a buyer for the clothes retailer.

The administrator KPMG has confirmed that the firm's 563 nationwide stores will remain open as they look to find a buyer for the business.

The company employed approximately 9,600 people before it went into administration on January 18. Since then, 249 redundancies have been made at the company's head office in Cardiff.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG said: 'Like many retailers Peacocks has suffered from tough economic conditions, which have seen its customers reduce their spending on the high street.  This factor, combined with a surplus of stores and high overheads, led to the business becoming financially unviable in its current form.

'It is with regret we have made 249 redundancies at Peacocks' head office in Cardiff, which follows a commercial review of the staffing levels of the business. 

'No stores have been closed and will continue to operate as normal whilst we actively search for a buyer for the business.'

It has also been announced that gift vouchers for the store are no longer being accepted to pay for goods.

l The future for staff at the Little Chef restaurants in Whiddon Down and Sourton Cross is also unclear after the company announced plans to close 67 of its 161 sites.

The sites earmarked for closure have been trading unprofitably for a number of years due to a variety of economic and locational factors.

Graham Sims, chairman of Little Chef, said: 'When we acquired Little Chef four years ago we inherited a number of sites with leases that were uncompetitive.

'Despite very hard work from some very committed colleagues we have been unable to lift the performances of these sites to a level where they are viable. Consequently, following a thorough review in which we considered all the options it is with regret that we have had to close a number of sites.

'This means some people's jobs are at risk throughout the organisation.

We will do everything in our power to help every individual find alternative employment within the Little Chef organisation. I know this will be tough and an uncertain time for many people in our team.'

Little Chef has declined to comment on which of the 161 branches will be closed.