CAKES and loaves of bread were left on display as staff at Mountsevens shops in Wiltshire were ordered to leave when the firm went bust.

The managers of shops in Marlborough, Devizes, Chippenham and Calne were told in a phone call that they and their staff had been made redundant and were told to lock up the shops.

Cakes, pastries and sandwiches were left on display and at the coffee shop in The Brittox, Devizes, staff had to leave used cups and plates on the tables.

The shutdown happened so rapidly that staff did not have enough time to contact customers who had ordered speciality cakes including the bride whose wedding cake was awaiting collection at The Brittox shop.

Area sales managers of the Bristol-based bakery chain, which employed 800 people, phoned round the chain's 70 shops last Wednesday afternoon to break the news.

Staff told the Gazette of their shock and anger at the suddenness of the move.

Pamela Merritt, manageress of The Original Cheesecake, owned by Mountstevens, in the Market Place, Devizes, said: "I was told to shut the shop up and leave. I was told to take the money out of the tills, put the money in the safe, lock the safe, lock the door and put the keys through the door.

"The area sales manager also said 'from today you are redundant, go and sign on the dole'.

"They said we had to leave everything where it was and close the shop. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to clean the shop before I left but I was told I wasn't to do so."

Mrs Merritt, who had worked for Mountstevens for 11 years, had to tell her 16-year-old employee who was in the shop at the time what had happened and she also rang the shop's three other employees.

She said: "They were all devastated. We all enjoyed our jobs, it was a very happy shop.

"It's terrible, I can't believe it. My stomach is churning over. I got up the next morning and thought what am I going to do with my life? When you are used to working you have got to do something."

At the Mountstevens shop in The Brittox, Devizes, manageress Anjelika Young and staff waited for four customers in the coffee shop to finish their drinks before locking up.

The shop employed six people and Ms Young, who had worked there for 11 years, had to phone the people who were not on duty.

She said: "Some didn't believe me and thought I was joking. Everybody was really shocked.

"We don't really know what is happening. They said everybody would get a letter explaining everything."

Only two weeks ago Mrs Merritt and Ms Young attended a Mountstevens managers' meeting in Bristol and were not told of any problems.

Ms Young said: "We were told everything was fine. They were talking about renovating the shops and everything sounded really good and then this happens.

"I don't think something like this happens overnight, they should have been a bit more honest with us."

In a statement, the directors of Mountstevens said: "It is with deep regret that we have had to take the decision that the company should cease trading.

"The company was acquired in October 2001 at which time it was incurring substantial trading losses.

"Despite the board having recruited a new management team, cutting costs, closing selected unprofitable shops and developing and investing in a new takeaway concept for a number of the shops, the losses have continued.

"The directors have been forced to accept that they can no longer raise funding to enable continued trading."

Staff at the Marlborough branch of the bakery, which was renamed Ferrari's in June, walked out of the shop on Wednesday afternoon leaving it like the infamous Marie Celeste.

They left leaving the shelves fully stacked with bread, trays of cakes on display in the windows and the lights still on.

Financial advisor Malcolm Rix, whose office is over the cake shop, said: "I was in there between about two or three o-clock when I heard the manager say 'Get the sign in and lock the door'. I wondered what was going on."

Within minutes the staff all left the shop after putting a handwritten notice on the door saying: "Sorry for the inconvenience but the shop will be closed until further notice."

People working in nearby shops said that staff in Ferarri's had absolutely no idea that the business was about to close. One said: "I was speaking to one of the girls earlier in the day who said she travelled up from Weston-super-Mare every day. She said she had put in 70 hours so far this week but she obviously had no idea the place was going to close."

One of the victims of the unexpected closure was the Marlborough Carnival committee. Secretary Angela Dickens said the firm closed down on the day the programme for the carnival week in September went to the printers.

Mrs Dickens said: "Ferrari's had booked a full page advertisement in the programme but we were still waiting to receive their £200. I don't suppose we will see the money now."

Another unhappy customer was forced to turn up to a birthday party without the cake.

Sarah Singleton, of Woodlands Road, Chippenham, paid £27.79 upfront when she ordered a cake to celebrate her mother's 60th birthday from Mountstevens in Chippenham. But three day's before the event Ms Singleton was horrified to discover the business had closed down.

On Thursday Ms Singleton telephoned the number displayed on the shop door and was told there would be no cake and she would need to fill in a form to make a claim for the cash.

"The person dealing with the inquiries more or less told me I would not be on the top of the list of creditors by any means," she said.

Luckily a family friend living in the same village as her parents made an emergency cake.

Chippenham Citizens' Advice Bureau manager Liz Taylor said half a dozen former Mountstevens employees had called into the CAB office to find out what they should do next.

"They are really quite shocked. One minute they had a job and the next they haven't," said Ms Taylor.

Mountstevens was founded by Bristol couple Ada and Henry Mountstevens in 1911 and remained in family hands for 86 years before being sold on.