NINETEEN Kent-based staff at troubled menswear chain Ciro Citterio are waiting to hear if their jobs are safe.

Administrators have been appointed to sell the high street retailer as a going concern.

Six people are employed at the store in Folkestone, eight in Bluewater, and five in Bromley. The Kent stores are among 100 stores employing 1,000 staff nationwide.

Last year, the chain had a turnover of £65m but parent company Trident Fashions was placed in administration after the stores turned in substantial losses over the past two years.

Andrew Pepper, Gurpal Johal and Fraser Gray, retail specialists in Kroll's Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Group have been appointed joint administrators.

They said that the stores would continue to trade as normal while they reviewed the business and made changes to improve profitability.

They hoped to sell it as a going concern and were seeking possible buyers.

Ciro Citterio, a successor to the Dunn menswear chain, was placed into administration in March 2001 following a shareholder dispute and its assets were purchased by Trident Fashions in June 2001.