THE administrators of collapsed grocery chain Kwik Save have announced that 20 stores across the region have closed.

Hundreds of jobs will be lost after new owners agreed to take over only 10 of the firm's supermarkets in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

KPMG announced that FreshXpress has moved to buy a third of the region's Kwik Save stores.

The company went into administration last Thursday, and 90 stores across the country were closed. Another 81 shops shut in June.

Kwik Save staff had been working without wages for the last six weeks in the hope that the company could survive.

KPMG announced on Friday that FreshXpress had agreed to buy 56 stores for £18m but could not confirm which branches were involved in the deal.

The administrator revealed last night that stores in Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Durham, and North Yorkshire have been saved.

Workers at the stores owned by FreshXpress are expected to have their pay backdated, but the rest will have to seek compensation from the Government's insolvency service.

Paul Clarke, spokesman for retail union Usdaw, told The Observer newspaper today: "These people have been working for the past six weeks without pay - they are absolutely desperate.

"The closures are a slap in the face for those workers who have done everything possible to support the company and at the end of the day they have ended up in unbelievable hardship and poverty."

The Kwik Save supermarkets which have been taken over by FreshXpress are - Chester-Le-Street; Durham Gilesgate; Middlesbrough branches at Linthorpe Road, Eastbourne Road and North Ormsby; Newcastle's Forest Hill and Fawdon stores; Ripley; Stockton Glebe Centre; and Whitley Bay.

A spokeswoman for KPMG said yesterday: "All of these stores have been saved but other shops in the area will close."

Usdaw's National Officer Joanne McGuiness said: "We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the new company to examine their business plan so we can reassure our members that they have a long-term future with the new company and that they won't be placed in this terrible situation again."

Staff affected by the closures can contact KPMG for advice on 0800-377-7302.