The future of a cafe chain is once again up in the air after a takeover deal collapsed.

Patisserie Valerie, which has branches in Maidstone, Canterbury, Ashford and Tunbridge Wells, went into administration last month.

But it looked as thought it could be saved last week when Mike Ashley, boss of Sports Direct, put in an offer to take over the stores in a deal believed to be worth £15 million.

However, he has now pulled out of the process.

Patisserie Valerie slumped into adminstration in January, but kept its best performing stores open while adminstrators KPMG sought a buyer.

All of the Kent stores continued to trade as a result as 70 outlets across the country were closed.

The company had admitted it faced a financial crisis back in October.

Other interested parties are believed to include coffee chain Costa.