Bradford firms owed money by the collapsed cable company JP Fitzpatrick Cable TV are unlikely to recoup their losses, according to the firm's administrator.

The contractor, which was one of seven companies to fold following the collapse of parent firm Utility Cable, has closed its office in Duncombe Street, Girlington, and contracts and assets are in the process of being sold off.

The collapse has left Bradford-based Yorkshire Cable without one of its major contractors responsible for laying and maintaining its cable network.

Administration receiver Finbarr O'Connell, of Grant Thornton, said the company's tax and VAT debt bill alone was £2 million. He said: "The likelihood of small investors seeing their money is quite poor. The debts for the group of companies is very high and the PAYE and VAT will be top of the list for any money we recoup through the selling of assets and contracts."

Mr O'Connell said shares in Utility Cable had been frozen at 2.25 pence on Monday. The group, which employed 300 people across the country, had projected profits of £3 million but had made a loss of £9 million in the 12 months to August.

Claim forms are being sent out to creditors and firms owed money by the group.

Keith Dibb, of Whitehall Stone Sales in Valley Road, Bradford, said his firm was owed £1,000 for paving stones supplied to JP Fitzpatrick.

"I'm sure a lot of small firms in Bradford will be owed money, Fitzpatrick was a big firm,'' he said.

A Yorkshire Cable spokesman said: "We are looking at the possibility of employing other contractors as a matter of urgency."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.