A deal to save restaurant chain TGI Fridays in the UK could be hammered out - but many outlets could still face the axe even if an agreement is reached.

The popular US restaurant chain operates 89 franchised restaurants nationwide - including at the Bluewater shopping complex in Greenhithe.

But its future was plunged into doubt after the parent company of the operators of the UK franchise, Hostmore, went into adminstration last week.

However, it has since emerged that talks are taking place between administrators and private investment companies Breal Capital and Calveton to buy the UK operations of the TGI Fridays brand.

Sky News says any takeover deal agreed would see the majority of existing UK restaurants be taken over - but that those not performing commercially are unlikely to survive.

The two investment firms recently acquired the D&D London restaurant group - which operates more than 40 eateries in the UK and overseas - in a deal worth £60million.

It quotes industry sources who suggest a slimmed down TGI Fridays in the UK could prove successful.

Hostmore had attempted to buy TGI Fridays’ parent company in the US earlier this year, but the deal fell through after the US firm lost control of the arm of the business which controlled the royalties from its lucrative franchise agreements and intellectual property.

Shares in Hostmore stopped trading on the London Stock Exchange on Friday. Days before it had issued a statement saying: “Unfortunately, all of the board's efforts to implement a lasting solution to support the long-term financial future of the business came against a highly challenging trading and macroeconomic backdrop, and efforts to create value for shareholders through the proposed acquisition of TGI Fridays, while well-advanced, encountered adverse events outside of the board's control.”