The administrators, KPMG, said on Friday they had decided to mothball the company's frozen foods division pending a review of its trading position after attempts to sell the business fell through.

KPMG added that it may announce redundancies on Monday.

Talks over the sale of Albert Fisher's seafood and chilled foods operations are still under way, with offers expected by the end of next week.

Albert Fisher, which supplies frozen and chilled foods to major UK supermarkets, was forced into administration last month after crisis talks with creditors failed.

Reversal of fortune

The company enjoyed a spell of spectacular growth during the 1980s, reaching a valuation of �784m as investors snapped up Albert Fisher stock.

But it failed to recover convincingly from a series severe setbacks during the early 1990s downturn.

Abortive disposal and takeover operations later in the decade further dented investor confidence in the firm.

Recent declines in the price of fish and frozen foods have added to the company's woes.

Albert Fisher's troubled frozen foods business, based in King's Lynn, Norfolk, is the largest supplier of frozen vegetables to the UK retail and food manufacturing industries.

The company employs a total of about 3,000 staff.