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 ten of the firm's supermarkets in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Administrators KPMG said last night that FreshXpress wanted to buy a third of the region's Kwik Save stores.

Kwik Save went into administration last Thursday, and 90 stores across the country closed.

Another 81 shops shut in June.

Staff had been working without wages for the past 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, said yesterday: "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 the workers who have done everything possible to support the firm 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 in Linthorpe Road, Eastbourne Road and North Ormsby; Newcastle's Forest Hill and Fawdon stores; Ripley; Stockton Glebe Centre; and Whitley Bay.

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 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.