BREAKING NEWS: Northampton bakery Oliver Adams stops production amid fears company has gone under

The Oliver Adams bakery in Gladstone Road, pictured this morning, has ceased operations. Staff have been called into a crisis meeting.

Last year Northampton’s long-running bread and cake makers Oliver Adams let go 62 staff after it emerged the firm was losing money "hand over fist" and had racked up nearly Â£1.7 million worth of debts.

But today it has emerged the firm has not been able to recover.

Remaining staff - believed to be around 100 or so - have been called into a meeting at its Gladstone Road headquarters at 10am this morning where redundancies will be discussed.

Picture shows waste piling out of a skip at the back of the Oliver Adams bakery.

It is not known whether the company will continue in some limited form - but a sign on the Wellingboroough Road outlet said: "Effective immediately this shop is closed until further notice.

"No person should enter this premises without express written consent from either Oliver Adams LTD or BRI."

BRI is an insolvency practitioner based in St James.

Production at its Gladstone Road head office has ceased today, eight staff members have told the Chron, though employees are unsure whether they will receive this month's pay.

A sign placed on the Wellingborough Road outlet this morning.

One man, whose wife works in the main bakery, said he was saddened by the news - particularly as staff were given no prior notice.

He said: "It's terrible isn't it? Shocking in fact. I know when I was made redundant I had advanced notice, but to be told with just one day's notice is scandalous."

Last year Oliver Adams entered into a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) to pay off all the creditors it owed money to.

The biggest bill was in unpaid taxes to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs - Â£315,000 - but other large sums were owed to private firms.

Oliver Adams is set to shut all of its outlets after several years of losses. The former Corner House outlet in Woodhill was shut last year as part of company downsizing.

Local companies included Farmhouse Meats in Gladstone Road, situated less than a mile away from the Oliver Adams main bakery.

Leaked papers showed the firm owed Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, where it used to have a cafe, Â£9,000. Northampton Borough Council, South Northants Council and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council also featured among the creditors.

Directors of Oliver Adams, Mark Jarvis and Martin Denness, also claimed to be owed sizeable sums. Mr Jarvis said he was owed Â£333,333 and Mr Deness Â£166,667.

The company is believed to have a net worth of -Â£1.44 million.