A BAKERY launched by celebrity chefs to help vulnerable former soldiers adjust to life in Civvy Street, is set to be overhauled after closing its commercial arm.

Riverside English Churches Housing Group, which runs the Veterans Artisan Bakery, at The Beacon training and support centre, in Catterick Garrison, said it had ended a partnership with catering firm Taylor Shaw after almost a year of supplying bread to retailers, including Lewis and Cooper.

The move, which is the latest in a number of changes at the bakery since it was launched by Marco Pierre White and Rosemary Shrager in 2012, is understood to have led to seven staff being given a day's notice of redundancy.

Riverside said the commercial bakery, which was producing up to 600 pieces of bread a day and had had little input from veterans since last May, was proving a distraction from its aim of providing veterans with vocational training.

The social housing provider said it was examining a range of options for the bakery, which has also seen a partnership with the Darlington-based Clervaux Trust charity dissolve.

Among the ideas being examined is offering the facilities for use by other local community organisations.

Riverside spokeswoman Susan Littlemore said the celebrity chefs had not remained involved with the bakery due to their busy schedules and its work with the Clervaux Trust had led to the commercial arm being developed.

She dismissed claims the bakery had not proved popular with veterans and said almost all the The Beacon's residents had experience there.

Ms Littlemore said the bakery would continue with its original aim of providing therapeutic training and opportunities for veterans to learn new skills.

She said: “As a housing association our experience has shown us that we need to put our focus on continuing this vital therapeutic work rather than concentrating staff resources on building up a commercial bakery, however tasty the bread was.

“The bakery now continues to provide ongoing training to former service personnel, many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress and are vulnerable to homelessness, to learn new career skills."