More than 650 employees of Land of Leather, the Kent-based furniture retailer that went into administration last month, have been warned their jobs are at risk.

On the day unemployment soared by more than 3,000 across the county, administrators at Deloitte briefed sombre workers on Wednesday that they had so far failed to fund a buyer for its remaining 82 stores, together employing 656 staff.

Land of Leather, which was founded in 1994 by Jerry Briant, and has its HQ in Northfleet, plunged into administration on January 12 after poor trading.

There had been hopes that the entire 109-store chain would be saved, but some have already closed and administrators announced on January 26 that they had failed to find a buyer for 33 more stores - employing 95 people. They ordered a stock liquidation sale ahead of expected closure.

Land of Leather stores in Gillingham, Maidstone, Canterbury and Orpington were not affected by the decision, but are now at serious risk of closure if a buyer does not come along.

Deloitte says it has not given up hope of finding a buyer, but the decision to warn staff about the risk of redundancy is an ominous sign at a time of real difficulty for high street retailers, especially those in big-ticket items like furniture.

Lee Manning, a Deloitte partner and joint administrator, said: "While it has not yet been possible to sell Land of Leather, we continue to talk to interested parties, and our goal remains to find a buyer for the business as a going concern.

"However, it is prudent to make contingency plans and we have notified all employees of the risk of redundancy and store closures should a buyer for the business not be found,"

He reassured customers that goods were still being received from suppliers, and his aim was to fulfil as many existing orders as possible. "Land of Leather will be speaking to or writing to all customers with outstanding orders with an update within the next week," he added.

In 2002, Land of Leather was named fastest-growing business in Kent. The chain then employed more than 1,000 people, including 113 in Kent, 90 at its head office in Northfleet.

Sales fell by 47 per cent in the three months to November 2, with annual pre-tax profits down to £2.3 million, well below that £18.5m profit in the previous year. Company chiefs had been trying to re-finance or sell the business before the administrators were called in.