The family-owned contractor, which has been in business since 1947, was being run by the fourth generation of the Dickens family to enter the building trade.

The firm, based at the Redmarsh Industrial Estate in Thornton on the Fylde coast, had a workforce of over 50 staff that worked on public and private sector projects throughout Lancashire and Cumbria.

Managing director Ross Dickens is also chairman of the Northwest National Federation of Builders.

Administrators from the Preston office of Leonard Curtis are handling the running of the firm.