EMPLOYEES at Ed’s Easy Diner in Reading town centre were left stunned after turning up to work only to discover they no longer had jobs.

Workers were forced to go online to find out about the recent takeover of the Oracle restaurant by Giraffe Concepts Limited after being given no notice by the company.

One employee even had to inform her own boss of the closure, which saw workers receive no notice of their redundancy and has left several hundred people out of work across the UK.

Elisha Maunders, a former counter server at Ed’s Diner, said: “The way they’ve treated us is disgusting. I had to ring my own boss to tell her.

"Apparently the company was bought overnight and now we all don’t have jobs.

“They could have at least given us some warning. I have just lost my job and I had to Google it.

“I was so happy there. It was the closest thing I’ve had to a normal job. It’s really sad, we were like a mini family.”

The Reading branch was last open on October 11. When employees arrived for work the following day they were sent home after being told that they were out of work.

It is believed that 379 people across the UK will be made redundant as part of the takeover, with at least 25 people from the Reading branch now seeking employment.

Little support has been offered to concerned employees, who are now fighting tooth and nail to simply receive redundancy pay.

Ed’s Diner has 59 sites in the UK and the other 33 of their restaurants are to be relabelled after the takeover.

Tom Crowley, managing director of Giraffe Concepts Ltd, said: “Ed’s Easy Diner has been an integral part of the UK casual dining scene for the past four decades and we are very excited about the business joining the group and the opportunities ahead.”