GREENOCK’S troubled Oak Mall shopping centre faces a hugely uncertain future after it plunged into administration.

Mall bosses announced the move yesterday, saying it had been caused by a ‘refinancing agreement’ with its financial backers.

But it comes less than a month after Claire Jefcoate, manager of the centre, breezily claimed it was on the up.

Yesterday she insisted that the administration move would have no impact on the running of the centre and said that tenants and shop owners were fully aware of the situation.

The shock announcement triggered a frenzy of speculation about the Mall’s future but Mrs Jefcoate refused to answer any of the questions put to her by the Telegraph.

She did, however, tell a Glasgow media outlet that there could be a change of ownership in the coming months.

But Mrs Jefcoate also refused to give a guarantee that the Oak Mall would definitely remain open.

Greenock & Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil today said he was ‘very concerned’ by yesterday’s sudden developments.

Mr McNeil said: “I want to speak to Mall manager Claire Jefcoate at the earliest opportunity, and I am also anxious to get a meeting set up with the administrators right away.

“We need to speak to them as soon as possible and find out about what is going on, and the situation the Mall faces.

“This is a worrying situation and it is absolutely vital that this important community asset is safe, obviously in terms of the jobs but also with things like the town’s identity too.

“It is vital that we rally round and protect this important asset.” The centre is owned by Oak Mall Greenock Ltd and managed by the Lotus Group of Northern Ireland. A spokesman for the Lotus Group declined to elaborate on a short statement issued yesterday by Mrs Jefcoate, which stressed it was ‘business as usual’.

The Mall’s Birmingham-based legal representatives, HBG Gateley Wareing One Eleven, referred all inquires to a Glasgow-based public relations company, who also refused to discuss the background to the financial problems.

The administrators, who were called in on 13 November, are BDO LLP. No-one from the company was available for comment.

A string of big name shops such as Mothercare and JJB have left the mall, but management have remained upbeat in the face of growing criticism from shoppers.

Ms Jefcoate said recently: “Despite the impact of the recession on the retail sector across the UK, Oak Mall remains a busy, thriving shopping centre, enjoying occupancy levels which are well above the national average.”