BUYERS are lining up to take over the sites of a collapsed £40m turnover car dealer group.

Seven Southgate Group dealerships across Hampshire and Dorset closed earlier this month after bosses ran into financial problems as the car market has slumped.

Administrators Begbies Traynor said they are now assessing a number of inquiries from parties looking to take over the leases to reopen the sites as car dealerships, including Southampton and Winchester.

Former employees now face an anxious wait to see if any of the franchises can be relaunched with new job openings.

Julie Palmer, partner in the Salisbury office of Begbies Traynor, said all of the 111 employees at Southgate’s Mitsubishi sites at Bridport, Poole and Romsey and its Peugeot outlets at Southampton, Andover, Blandford and Winchester had been made redundant following the closures.

Cars were cleared on transporters from the forecourts and showrooms within hours.

Mrs Palmer added: “This has been an extremely well-run company.

It is the victim of the current car market in both the UK and beyond. It has been affected by the slowdown.

“We are working hard to pull together its financial affairs and save as much as possible of the group. It has not been possible to save any jobs but we are experiencing a good deal of interest in the sites.”

She said the Winchester site in St Cross Road, formerly a Peugeot garage, was receiving “quite a bit of interest”.

“We are hopeful that somebody will be interested in taking it on,” she said.

Customers who ordered cars with the firm should still be receiving their vehicles from other dealers in Hampshire and Dorset.

Based at Romsey, the £40 million turnover Southgate Group, was founded in 1996. It is comprised of three companies Investbuild Ltd, Poole Car Centre Ltd and Littleton Garage (Blandford) Ltd. It was run by David Moulton and his two sons, Neil and Simon.

Additional reporting by Matt Smith.