MORE than 60 off-licence workers in the region are to lose their jobs after administrators announced the closure of 13 loss-making stores.

The administrators of First Quench Retailing, the owner of Thresher, Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine, announced this week that 373 stores were to close across the country, with 1,738 redundancies.

Yesterday, it emerged that 11 of those stores were in the North-East, with a further two in North Yorkshire.

Together, the stores employ 62 people. They include a Victoria Wine branch in the Horse Market, Barnard Castle, employing four people, and branches of The Local in Market Place, Crook, Framwellgate, Durham, Norfolk Place, Middlesbrough, and Durham Road, Stockton, employing 24 staff between them.

Branches of The Local in Fulford, York, employing five, and Scarborough, employing four people, will also close.

Depending on stock levels, some shops will continue to trade until November 25, with others trading until December 2.