Basildon's popular family restaurant Frankie and Benny's could be at risk after its owners announced 35 branches will close.

The Restaurant Group (TRG), which also owns Wagamama and Chiquito, has revealed it will close up to 35 sites over the next two years.

Restaurants which have been making a loss will shut their doors as the company looks to cut costs after reporting widening losses over 2022.

South Essex has one Frankie and Benny’s restaurant left, which is located at Basildon's Festival Leisure Park, and it remains uncertain whether this store will be one of the 35 axed.

Andy Hornby, TRG’s chief executive, said: “Every year a number of leases come up for potential renewal, so the vast majority is where we are going to selectively exit a number of those, rather than renew the lease for another five or 10 years.

“We will manage that on a localised basis, and the teams will be the first people to know.

“But we are not closing any sites that we think have got long-term profitable futures.”

Up to three of the sites will be converted to Wagamama over the next two years, and the rest will be sold or the leases will be exited or left to expire.

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The company, which has about 18,000 staff, has already cut a raft of loss-making restaurants over the years, including closing the majority of its Chiquito restaurants at the start of the pandemic to bolster its finances.

The former Chiquito restaurant in Basildon, next door to the Frankie and Benny’s, was replaced by Wagamama in 2019.

Meanwhile, Wagamama’s sales increased by nearly a tenth last year, leaving TRG aiming to open five to six new restaurants a year for the next three years.