A COACH firm that ferries children to school around Malmesbury has gone into administration with the loss of 89 jobs.

The holiday arrangements of up to 1000 people have also been affected by the closure of most of the services provided by Hatts Coaches, based at Foxham, Chippenham. The firm is not thought to be ABTA bonded.

Administrators FRP Advisory were appointed today and said in a statement that the business had run out of money.

Administrator Andrew Sheridan said: “We are acutely aware of the distress and hardship many holidaymakers and day trippers will be suffering right now particularly as so many of these are of an 'older generation'.

"Our priority right now is to contact and provide dedicated helpline support for those members of the general public who have paid for holidays, day trips and other private hire with Hatts," he stressed.

"We will ensure that they are advised of their statutory rights under the Consumer Credit Act where, in the first instance, if they have paid by credit or debit card they should make contact with their card providers.

"At the same time we will be ensuring that the 89 employees who have lost their jobs are provided with the necessary support to make timely claims from the redundancy payments service for any entitlements they have for unpaid wages, holiday pay, notice pay and redundancy."

Wiltshire Council said new ope3ratoprs would be in place for the start of next term.