The jobs of workers at 33 Ponden Mill stores look to be secure after a deal was struck for the shops to pass into new hands.

Ponden Mill's Keighley-based parent company, Marston Mills, went into administration last month. Managers blamed difficult trading conditions, a downturn in consumer spending and increasing overheads.

But Poundstretcher, a subsidiary of Huddersfield-based budget retailer Instore, has agreed to take control of 33 of the larger Ponden Mill stores - mainly based in retail parks - for £3.8 million. It is still unclear exactly which stores are included in the deal.

The move will come as comfort to many of the firm's employees who have faced uncertain futures after administrator Ernst & Young was called into Marston Mills and axed 44 jobs at its headquarters in Royd Ings Avenue.

Ernst & Young is understood to be acting to seal deals for the remainder of the Ponden Mill business, which employs about 1,300 workers across the country.

It has shops in Stanbury, Bradford, Skipton and Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre. Other brands in the Marston Mills group include Jeff Banks Home and Coloroll.

Before the 44 redundancies were announced last month, the firm was believed to have had about 120 staff in Keighley, Stanbury and Skipton.

The deal with Poundstretcher includes all the stock in the stores and all goods at the Marston Mills' headquarters.

Ernst & Young joint administrator Simon Allport said he hoped to complete deals for other parts of the Marston Mills group in the coming weeks.