Nearly half of Byron's restaurants are to close in the burger chain's latest brush with insolvency.

Sky News has learnt that close to ten of its 21 remaining sites will shut their doors permanently as part of a pre-pack administration engineered by Calveton, its owner.

A deal could be struck with administrators at Interpath Advisory as soon as this week, according to insiders.

Byron last collapsed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in Calveton taking control of the business.

Other casual dining casualties of the crisis included Carluccio's and Prezzo.

At its peak, Byron operated scores of sites across the UK and was among a deluge of restaurant chains that expanded too aggressively.

It was unclear on Tuesday how many jobs would be lost in the latest restructuring.

Byron's financial pain is unlikely to be an isolated case this year, with the economy sliding towards recession and businesses hampered by soaring energy costs - despite the latest government support package.

As well as Calveton, the private equity firm Three Hills Capital Partners is a minority investor in the company.

Byron, which was founded in 2007, could not be reached for comment.