Pawnbroker H&T has offered to buy parts of stricken rival Albemarle & Bond out of administration.

The group confirmed speculation that it was eyeing up the collapsed firm, saying it had submitted a proposal "regarding a potential purchase of some of A&B's assets".

It is one of a number of potential buyers looking at the business, with administrators at PwC saying they were "talking to a number of interested parties". Further details of the H&T bid were not immediately available.

More than 1,000 jobs are at risk after Reading-based Albemarle announced two weeks ago that it would go into administration.

The group, which has 188 stores across the UK, threw in the towel after lenders said they did not consider options to save the business "capable of being completed".