It is the third east coast construction business to topple this month following Clugston and Corbridge-based Joyce Construction & Civils.

RDF Building, which was established in the early 1990s by Rick Firth, had expanded in recent years delivering a mix of building and refurbishment projects and more recently expanding into specialist joinery.

Earlier this year the business gained recognition for its health and safety practice with a ROSPA silver award.

A local insider said RDF was a respected business working around the north east but had been caught with a problem contract.

He said that things started to go wrong on Wakefield college archive building working for Galliford Try Building’s North East business.

The firm had become embroiled in a dispute over the valuation of works leading to cash flow problems at the business.