Phone calls to the Swansea based contractor have been going unanswered for a week since the Enquirer revealed suppliers were unable to get in touch with the company.

Cuddy has now made a statement to the BBC confirming it is in administration and blaming its demise on a serious illness suffered by managing director Mike Cuddy which left him in hospital for six months.

The statement said: “During his enforced absence from work at Cuddy Group, he had hoped that others would have stepped up to fill the gap he had left.

“Unfortunately this did not happen and the challenges facing the company increased month on month throughout 2017 and into 2018.”

Mike Cuddy returned to work early against medical advice in April.

Despite injecting personal funds, he “was left no alternative but to put the company into administration”.

The company added: “Mike is devastated and as you can imagine, the news and the associated stress, are taking a heavy toll on his health.

“He intends to continue however, to do everything he can to ensure that the company workforce is successful in finding alternative employment.”

Around 130 Cuddy groundworkers are understood to have been offered jobs with house builder Persimmon.