MORE than a dozen employees could face losing their jobs after HMV went into administration.

It was confirmed yesterday that the store in Regent Street employs 16 members of staff who could face redundancy if administrators Deloitte cannot secure the future of the company.

On Tuesday Nicholas Guy Edwards, Neville Barry Kahn and Robert James Harding of Deloitte were appointed joint administrators of the HMV Group plc, HMV Music Limited, HMV UK Limited, HMV Limited and Fopp Entertainments Limited.

The news is another blow to the town centre economy.

Heydar Faramarzi, the chairman of the Swindon Chamber of Commerce, would not comment on the situation with HMV but said Swindon was in a better situation than other towns.

He said: “This is something that is a national problem not just Swindon.

“Swindon is one of the towns that is doing well compared to other towns in the country.

“I think one of the issues is that people are going to shops and browsing but then going home and buyingonline.

“My motto has always been ‘keep trade local’ and the chamber is keen to promote this.”

Shoppers were shocked by the news and many who were visiting the store yesterday said that they would be upset to see it close.

Ellen Carter, 29, a library community development officer from Highworth, said: “It’s going to be sad; it just seems that everything is closing down nowadays.

“It’s a shame because it’s nice to come out and have tangible thing that you can pick up and see before you buy. “We’ve already had a lot of shops closing down. There was a music shop in the Brunel centre that was brilliant and had a lot of local music in it as well. It will be a shame, especially if you want to see a CD before you buy it.”

Liz Nicholas, 57, a sales assistant from Cirencester said: “I’m shocked, I’m in complete shock.

“I used to work for Woolworths so I know exactly what they’re going through.

“I think that there should be more help for retailers.

“A lot of people shop online nowadays. I shop locally; I will go out of my way to shop locally. I really do think that it’ll be a massive loss if HMV goes under.”