SEVENTEEN employees of Focus DIY in Selby look set to lose their jobs as it emerged the store is not one of 55 sold in rescue deals.

Administrators Ernst and Young warned on Wednesday that 3,000 employees faced redundancy as they appointed retail consultants Gordon Brothers to liquidate the stock of 120 remaining stores.

Closing-down sales, including one in Selby, will start this weekend.

Mark Crane, leader of Selby District Council, said the news was disappointing, but he hoped something positive could come out of it.

He said: “I think the site itself could have other uses and we will work with North Yorkshire County Council to see if we can find a suitable business to move in there.”

Simon Allport, joint administrator from Ernst and Young, said they had been successful in securing up to 900 jobs from the sale of 55 stores in three separate deals, but it had not been able to find a buyer for the whole of the business.

The Harrogate branch, which employs 30 people, and one at Goole, which employs 18, have been bought by Kingfisher plc, which owns B&Q, as part of an agreement to buy up to 31 leasehold properties for £23 million in cash.

B&Q said it planned to start the process of refitting the vacant properties and opening them as new B&Q stores later in the year.

Wickes agreed to buy up to 13 stores, including the Beverley one.