The end of the road for Little Chef?

PA

It seems like there are some things that even Heston Blumenthal can't solve. Anyone who saw the celebrity chef battling management to revamp the restaurants and the menu for a reality TV programme back in 2008 would have had an inkling that all was not rosy at the company.

At the time it had just been rescued from administration and was working to revamp the fortunes of the troubled business. The closure of such a huge chunk of its outlets cannot be considered a resounding success.