Coronavirus: Channel Island freight firm collapses

Channel Island Lines had supported charities and events in Southampton, Guernsey and Jersey

Getty Images Freight boxes — Channel Island Lines had supported charities and events in Southampton, Guernsey and Jersey

Eighty people are set to lose their jobs following the collapse of a group of Channel Islands shipping companies.

Channel Island Lines has announced it is going to stop operations immediately.

It blamed "very difficult trading conditions" caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Channel Island Lines UK, Channel Island Lines Guernsey, Paul Davis Freight and Rockayne Jersey are the companies affected.

Anyone with goods at its depots in Jersey, Guernsey, Bristol and Southampton has been asked to make arrangements to pick them up, the firm said.

Thirty people worked for the group in Jersey, 12 in Guernsey and 38 in the UK.

Grant Thornton is being appointed as administrator and "where possible to assist employees with their statutory entitlements".

Deputy Lyndon Trott, Vice-President of Guernsey's Policy & Resources Committee said the collapse would have a "knock-on effect" in the long-run, but said the supply chain for essentials into the island remained strong.

"From the start we have been open and frank with our community. [The] government will not be able to save every business, despite the measures that are currently in place and additional measures under review," he said.