HAMPSHIRE staff of bust department store chain Allders are to be spared the axe for the time being.

Allders collapsed into administration last week with debts of £150m but administrators Kroll have said they are not anticipating any job losses at the 45 UK branches. But about 200 jobs were cut from the firm's Croydon headquarters

Bidders for Allders, which has four Hampshire stores including one in Southampton, have been given a deadline of Wednesday night to register their interest. Kroll, the firm appointed as administrator, has told all interested parties to get their bids in so that a sale can be completed quickly.

More than 30 expressions of interest have so far been received with Debenhams and House of Fraser believed to be keen on taking over a number of stores.

It is too early to say whether the chain will be sold as a going

concern or split up, with individual stores being auctioned off.

A Kroll spokesman added: "The administrators hope to know by the middle of this week whether the business will be sold as a going concern."

He said trading in Allders stores had been "brisk", with few customers put off by the group going into administration.

Customers who have paid deposits for goods that are not in stock have been told that they can redeem the money against other purchases.

But there is the looming possibility that the 4,100 members of the Allders pension fund could lose their retirement savings because of the collapse.

The pension fund would cost £58m to wind up if the chain went into liquidation and it is not clear who would be liable.

The members of the fund would rank as unsecured creditors alongside suppliers, lenders and shareholders, leaving them likely to receive little of their pensions.

The Department of Work and Pensions is in regular contact with administrators on the issue.