AROUND 100 Scottish workers in 14 stores are to lose their jobs in the first wave of closures at collapsed retailer Clinton Cards, administrators said.

They are among 366 redundancies across the UK which have come after the group, the country's biggest specialist cards retailer, collapsed into administration earlier this month.

The first 44 stores, out of 350 lined up for closure, will shut before the end of May, administrator Zolfo Cooper said, including 25 Birthdays and 19 Clinton stores.

Further store closures are due in the coming weeks, although Zolfo said there was no further information at this time.

The affected Clinton stores in Scotland are in Airdrie, Coatbridge, Edinburgh The Fort, Galashiels, Glasgow Byres Road, Glasgow Sauchiehall Street, Greenock, Hamilton, Paisley and Stirling. The four Birthdays shops to close are in Cumbernauld, Dalkeith, Falkirk and Fort William.

There have been reports that WHSmith, which bought the online personalised greetings card brand Funky Pigeon in 2010, is interested in buying up to 350 stores. Card Factory, Clinton's biggest competitor with 596 stores, is also thought to have approached administrators.

Clinton has suffered dire trading in recent months as it comes up against stiff competition from supermarkets and online retailers such as Funky Pigeon and Moonpig.