STAFF at La Scala were made redundant without notice or pay, just six weeks before Christmas, a former member of staff has revealed.

The Italian restauarant, in Chorley Road, closed suddenly around a month ago.

According to a former member of staff, who wishes to remain anonymous, workers were called to a nearby Wetherspoons pub to be told the restaurant was shut and that they would all be losing their jobs.

To make matters worse, staff were apparently told that they would not be receiving any redundancy pay.

The former member of staff also claimed their wages had previously been late on more than one occasion.

They said: "He just told us the business is gone and that they'd been kicked out by the landlords.

"He's told us to claim redundancy from the government because he can't afford to pay it us.

"There were wage problems all the time to be fair, not getting paid on time and a few things like that."

Earlier this week, The Bolton News reported that a number of customers were also left out of pocket, due to the restaurant closing down after taking deposits for Christmas and New Year bookings.

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The former member of staff added: "Nobody's going to get their money back at all.

"One of my neighbours paid £100 deposit and I told them they're probably not going to get that back.

"It's horrible, £100 is a lot of money, especially at Christmas time."

The Bolton News have contacted restaurant owner Giovanni Baffa Scinelli for comment.