SIX off-licences in Oxfordshire owned by the Threshers group are to close, with the loss of 25 jobs.

The Oxfordshire staff are among more than 1,700 workers losing their jobs after administrators for Threshers parent First Quench announced the closure of 373 stores nationwide.

First Quench — which also trades as Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine — fell into administration last month after struggling in the recession.

The closure list from administrators KPMG includes five job losses at The Local in Rose Hill; four at Threshers in Oxford Road, Cowley; five at the Wine Rack in St Mary's Street, Wallingford; four at The Local in Broadway, Didcot; four at the Wine Rack in High Street, Witney, and four at The Local in Banbury.

Stock is being sold off at a discount from today, said KPMG. Some stores will trade until November 25, with the rest closing on December 2.

Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "Unfortunately, after reviewing the viability of the store network, 373 loss-making stores are to be closed.

"As part of the closure programme, liquidation sales will take place at each of the stores scheduled to be closed with the stock being sold off at a discount from Friday, November 6."

First Quench operates around 1,200 stores across Scotland, England and Wales under its various brands and employs about 6,300 people.

Mr Fleming said the group's remaining stores will remain open and trade as normal while administrators search for a buyer.

"So far, we have received considerable interest in the business from a range of buyers, including trade, individual investors and private equity," he said.

"The remaining stores are trading well and we believe they present an attractive investment. We are confident of securing a sale in the coming weeks."

This is the second round of redundancies at the group since its collapse after KPMG cut 81 jobs at its head office in Welwyn Garden City last month.

First Quench was placed in administration after struggling amid fierce competition for drink sales from superstores.

The Threshers chain was founded in 1897 by Samuel Thresher. It was bought by Flowers Breweries in the 1950s and became part of Whitbread — now owner of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee — in 1962.

Whitbread merged the off-licence chain with Allied Domecq's Victoria Wine in 1998 to create First Quench, which was bought by private equity firm Principal Finance Group for £225m in 2000.