A SECOND-HAND car dealership that operates out of Lakeside has left hundreds of motorists in the lurch after it went into administration.

The closure also means around 500 jobs will be lost at Carcraft, who have ten dealerships around the country including the showroom in Weston Avenue, West Thurrock. It’s believed around 30 jobs will be lost from the Lakeside branch.

Administrators Grant Thornton said the dealership sells more than 12,000 used vehicles a year.

A spokesman warned customers with Carcraft policies, including break-down cover, would no longer be covered.

David Alford bought his car from the dealership only two weeks ago, and it was in to be repaired when the company went under... or so he thought.

He also took out a £2,500 five-year extended warranty which is now defunct. The warranty would’ve covered his repairs.

Mr Alford, who lives, in Crayford, Kent, said: “I took the car back on Monday (April 27) with a technical issue and the engineer said it needed a new clutch which they said they’d do free of charge.

“I then got a call on the Wednesday saying they couldn’t do the work until Tuesday (May 5) and couldn’t say why. I rang head office and they didn’t have a clue what was going on and that was the last I heard from them.”

He visited the dealership on Friday and manage to get his car back, but now has to get a new clutch himself.

He added: “The administrators of site told me I’ll be lucky if I get back 10p for every £1 of the warranty. I’m lucky I even got my car back.”

Grant Thornton said the group had suffered from "poor market reputation, lack of investment, a high cost base, expensive loan note financing and an insolvent balance sheet", and are said to be making annual losses of about £8m a year.

They added all staff have been informed of the closure, and were paid on April 30 for the whole of April.

No one from Carcraft was available for comment.