A company that owns an upscale seafront restaurant has gone into administration, casting doubt over the future of its four branches.

Bourgee Restaurants Limited has been appointed administrators earlier this month after the Southend branch closed suddenly without explanation.

There are three Bourgee restaurants across Essex with two in Southend and one in Chelmsford.

There is also a fourth in Bury St Edmunds, in Suffolk as well as two further venues on the way in Norwich and Colchester.

Mark Upton and David Scrivener of Ensors Accounts as administrators on April 10.

No official statement has been shared by the company or the administrators.

Bourgee’s Southend restaurant was the first the company launched by entrepreneur James Welling and chef Mark Baumann in 2014, with an aim to deliver “affordable luxury” to local customers.

The £1 million venue was considered a flagship example for a UK-wide chain of restaurants, where UK lobster and beef from Spain was cooked on enormous, bespoke grills.