Rileys pool and snooker club in Weston-super-Mare is to close after the company was placed into administration.

Eight members of staff will lose their jobs with the closure of the club in Regent Street. But Rileys on Queens Road in Clifton and East Walk in Yate will remain open.

Nationwide 200 jobs are expected to be lost, with 30 sites closing, following the sale of Rileys' assets to Valiant Sports, a company which includes some of the firm's existing directors, including former Rileys boss Maurice Kelly.

Administrators Ernst and Young said the Milton Keynes-based firm, which had 1,400 employees in 159 sites across the UK, and its subsidiaries had suffered from a downturn in trade and large debts.

Joint administrator Simon Allport, said: "The companies have been experiencing tough trading difficulties due to a downturn in trade and a heavy debt burden and were unable to trade outside of administration.

"Fortunately we have been able to secure a deal, which means 129 sites will continue to trade, and the brand and 1,200 jobs will be preserved."

Among the clubs closing are those in Blackburn, Glasgow, Peterborough, Oxford, Clapham in London, Northampton and Wakefield.

A spokesman for Valiant said: "We are extremely sorry that we could not rescue all of the clubs and we have worked very hard to save as many jobs as possible.

"The new company is committed to working with suppliers and creditors of Rileys and to renew the relationships going forward."

Valiant said it was in talks with landlords and suppliers of the closed sites in the hope of securing a more competitive deal, which could allow it to buy more clubs from the administrators.

The owners of Rileys before its collapse into administration – private equity firms Greenhill Capital Partners and North Atlantic Value – bought Rileys under the consortium name Crucible from leisure group Georgica in 2007 for £34.1 million.

Rileys has since suffered a series of setbacks, with trading hit by the smoking ban and changes to the gambling laws.

Its future was put in doubt in the run-up to Christmas, when the group's lending bank, Icelandic group Kaupthing, went into administration.