Upper Crust baguette chain, with an outlet in Norwich railway station, is suffering a £425.8m annual loss due to the pandemic.

Owners, the SSP group, which has food and drink sites in airports and railway stations, said the losses over the year to September 30 compared with pre-tax profits of £197.2m in 2019.

SSP has been hit hard by plummeting passenger numbers during the pandemic, with sales as much as 93pc lower in its first quarter before easing back slightly to 80pc lower in its final quarter.

In July, it said it could cut up to 5,000 jobs across the UK.

The company expects only one-fifth of its UK stores, which sell baguettes with different fillings as well as pastries, to remain trading. SSP employs around 39,000 staff worldwide across 2,800 outlets.

During lockdown, fewer than 10 of its shops stayed open.