THE hunt was on last night for the boss of a troubled Hampshire freight business over unpaid rent while out-of-work staff began the search for new jobs.

Work at the site of collapsed Hampshire transport firm Boyes Conning has come to a halt after bailiffs were sent in to secure premises on the Chalcroft Business Park in West End. Up to 80 staff have been left out of work.

Channel Island based landlords Fox International Properties said they were still seeking a meeting with the sole director of Boyes’ parent company GJ Cooper Holdings, which is thought to owe a quarter of a million pounds in unpaid rent.

Manchester based Faridoon Yaghoobzadeh, 57, who was last thought to be in Iran, took control of the business in July when it was sold by then owner Graham Westcott, 73, for just one pound. But workers said he rarely visited the site. Boyes Conning went bust at the end of August owing £1.7m to 139 creditors.

Jock Russell, from landlords FIP West End, admitted: “We don’t know where he is. We’ve never met him. We’re waiting for him to get in contact. We reached a stalemate. It’s just ridiculous.”

Other tenants are now being lined up to take on the Burnetts Lane site and create new jobs.

Northern Irish firm Tinnelly Transport, who are not part of the dispute with the landlords, had been operating from the site after taking over the Boyes contracts in September.

Michael Tinnelly, from Tinnelly, blamed the disruption by the bailiffs for the loss of business, which he said had been turned from loss to profit.

He said: “The business has now ceased as far as we’re concerned.”

Mr Tinnelly said he was attempting to hang on to some of the contracts and had offered drivers new jobs.

Workers arrived on Monday morning to confront their bosses about two weeks unpaid wages only to find the gates to the site locked. Police were called to keep the peace.

Mr Tinnelly promised staff would “all get their money” but added he needed to get hold of the invoices.

Landlords FIP said they had no relationship with Tinnelly who had not been given permission to use the site.

No one from GJ Cooper was unavailable for comment.