EIGHTEEN jobs were axed on Tuesday as one of the oldest car dealerships in Farnham was finally closed, a month after it went into liquidation.

Staff at Hancock Ford, which has been trading under Ford since the early 1960s, learned of their redundancy at lunchtime when the receivers came to deliver the bad news - and clear the last of the cars from the once-crowded forecourt.

Manager at the Firgrove Hill site, Steve Englefield, told The Herald that his colleagues had reacted to the decision to clear and sell the site with "subdued shock".

Branch manager for 18 months and a Ford employee for nearly 30 years, Mr Englefield says that while the staff were told that the property was likely to be sold off, they were still surprised at how quickly the process had been hurried along.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "The receivers came in with the general manager yesterday and broke the bad news.

"We assumed the garage would go at some point.

"We knew we'd have to go soon, but just not like this."

At this time it is unlikely that the workers, one of whom has been at the garage for 34 years, will be allocated posts at the other Ford branches in neighbouring Guildford and Farnborough.

The issue of redundancy pay appears to look equally as bleak.

Mr Englefield continued: "The redundancies were so sudden that we really don't know what's going to happen.

"But it is likely that we will just be entitled to the bare minimum pay-off that a receiver can give."

However, he said that loyal customers were making the sad news easier to bear: even though they were having to re-direct them to other branches, people on the whole were not adding to the problem.

"We've had a flood of customers come in since we found out yesterday, expressing their sympathies.

"Most have been quite surprised that we're suddenly leaving after so long.

"There's been no one who has come in to complain about not having their car fixed or anything."

He added: "As soon as you mention redundancies and receivers, they're very sympathetic, really."

The garage will be finishing the last of its work this week and is set to close by the end of the month.

With its ideal positioning so close to the station, the site, reported to be worth around £1.8 million, is thought to be ripe for development.