Renfrew councillors have offered their support to those who have lost their jobs after the closure of Aulds.

The family-owned baker shut its store in Hairst Street after financial pressures had forced the business’ retail arm into an unsustainable loss-making position.

Renfrew North and Braehead councillors Bill Brown, John Shaw and Jane Strang expressed their sadness at the situation and vowed to help those affected find new employment.

Labour Councillor Brown said: “I am extremely disappointed at the position that Aulds find themselves in. They have had a presence in the centre of Renfrew for many years and will be sorely missed.

“My thoughts are with the staff and I will be contacting our skills and employment teams to see how we can help those in Renfrew. “I will also be working with fellow councillors from around Renfrewshire to see how we can help those involved and prevent further shop closures in our towns.”

Councillor Strang added: “It is always a sad day whenever a local business closes – first and foremost it means people have lost their jobs, which is an incredibly stressful thing to deal with.

“As a local councillor, I am of course more than happy to offer them whatever help I can.

“I think we need to look at wider issue too – our high streets need our support, but sadly we have an SNP administration that is making life more difficult for local businesses by introducing parking charges.

“If we want people to shop locally we should not be making it more expensive to do so. Myself and my Conservative colleagues opposed the charges, but we were voted down.

“It is time the SNP followed our lead and back local shopkeepers instead of working against them.”

However, Councillor Shaw said this was not the time for “political point scoring”.

He said: “I’m disappointed but not surprised that Renfrew’s only Tory Councillor would use the closure of Aulds to mount a disjointed political point scoring exercise.

“The closure of what was a local institution over many years was a sad day indeed, more so for those who have lost their jobs and I am available to assist those workers in any way I can.”

Meanwhile, Paisley stores in the Piazza Shopping Centre, Neilston Road and Glasgow Road are safe for now but will be assessed with a view to selling and safeguarding as many jobs as possible.

The liquidation will not impact upon the group’s two other subsidiary companies, Aulds Bakeries Limited and Aulds Delicious Desserts, which has a manufacturing facility at Inchinnan.