Sausage and mash restaurant the Big Bang has been saved by new owners after its original parent company hit financial problems.

Owner Max Mason was forced to get rid of the eaterie in Walton Street, Jericho, in a “pre-liquidation” sale after his bid to expand elsewhere went wrong.

The restaurant opened in November, 2004, and went on to win a series of awards.

In October 2007, Mr Mason opened a second branch of Big Bang in Bristol, but trading was hit by the recession and the restaurant closed in May last year.

The restaurateur told the Oxford Mail that he had “got his fingers burned” opening a second Big Bang and had lost about £250,000 as a result.

He said: “I broke my ankle the week before the restaurant opened in Bristol and the area quickly became a ghost town, because of the recession.

“I don’t have any regrets, but I’m hoping that by Christmas I will have reached the end of my annus horribilis.

“I would have been miffed if I had not even tried to open the restaurant in Bristol. We were trying to market sausage and mash to a large audience but it happened at the wrong time.

“The Big Bang in Oxford is still open and I want as many people as possible to dine there.

“The restaurant here is doing well in the recession – people still want to go out to dinner at a reasonable price.”

Mr Mason said the restaurant had now been sold to Walton Street Eatery, in a “pre-liquidation sale”.

A meeting of Big Bang Oxford’s creditors will be held in Reading on Wednesday, May 20.

Mr Mason added: “I have tried to help out with community projects and the restaurant sponsored the fireworks at South Parks one year and the Luminox festival another year.

“I would like to be in a position at some point, possibly next year, to buy Big Bang in Oxford back.”

During the first year of trading, the Big Bang’s food won Restaurant magazine’s Top 10 Dishes in the UK award.

It was also declared the third best place to eat in Britain for under £50 by The Independent newspaper.

In 2007, the Big Bang won the top local food category in the South East heat of the Best Rural Retailers competition, organised by the Countryside Alliance.