Jamie's Italian restaurant chain owes £1.9m to an Oxfordshire food supplier, it has emerged.

The chain, which has a branch in George Street, has owed the money to Bicester-based Fresh Direct and other creditors including Oxford City Council, as it struggles to move forward with debts of £60m.

Twelve out of 37 restaurants are to close but George Street, the first, which opened in 2008, is not one of them.

An agreement has been struck with creditors known as a company voluntary arrangement to help the company move forward.

The restaurants to close are Bath, Bristol, Bluewater, Chelmsford, Greenwich, Harrogate, Kingston, Milton Keynes, Piccadilly Diner, Reading, St Albans and Threadneedle St.

Staff are going through a consultation period, although the company will attempt to place some of those affected in other parts of Mr Oliver’s restaurant empire.

Last year, Mr Oliver blamed a combination of rising Brexit cost pressures and tough trading when he shut six restaurants.

As well as staff costs and lower footfall, the group has been stung by the collapse in the pound, which has ramped up the cost of buying ingredients from Italy.

A total of 97 per cent of creditors, including landlords, voted in favour of the deal on Friday.

Last year the father-of-five told how he took a £2m gamble to open the George Street branch in 2008.

A spokesman for the Jamie's Italian chain said: "Following a 97 per cent positive creditor vote the Jamie's Italian business can now move forward with the restructuring plan, whereby we can protect the future employment of 1,800 staff across 25 restaurants and head office."

The spokesman added that all suppliers of the 12 sites that are closing will be paid for the amounts outstanding, related to those sites.

A city council spokesman said the chain has now paid the amounts listed as being owed in the CVA document.