The Harrogate firm was established over 30 years ago and boasted a turnover of around £10m working on building, civil engineering and steel projects up to £5m in the region.

The job cuts hit around 15 office staff with the remainder being directly employed site workers.

A worker said: “It’s really bad news for everybody just before Christmas. It depends on individual circumstances but people are being promised severance pay. It just takes a long time to come through.”

H&F joins a growing list of company construction collapses across the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside regions, which has been worst hit by the sharp downturn.

H&F operated its own plant fleet as well as owning an 8,000 sq ft steel fabrication workshop.

Howard Smith and Mark Granville Firmin of KPMG are handling the administration.