The 85 staff at Bristol branches of Zavvi escaped more store closures today – as another 295 jobs were lost at the troubled music retailer.

Administrators Ernst & Young closed 15 more stores, including branches in Taunton, Exeter and the King's Road in Chelsea.

Zavvi has branches in Bristol in the The Mall Galleries in Broadmead, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, which each employs 27 staff, and Cabot Circus, which has 31 workers..

Today's closures mean there are just 48 Zavvi stores left in the UK, including the Bristol sites, which will remain open while a buyer is sought.

Tom Jack at Ernst & Young said: "We continue to trade 48 stores in the UK, however in doing so we have to manage the cost base of the company with a view to maximising returns to creditors.

"This includes a constant re-evaluation of our property portfolio in line with trading performance. Consequently, with reducing stock levels we have had to manage our cost base accordingly and close a further 15 stores.

"At this time we are continuing to look to further progress interest from a number of interested parties and consequently do not have a formal closure plan for the entire store network.

"We are extremely grateful to the staff and management at all stores and the head office for their fantastic support throughout this difficult time.

Two weeks ago, Ernst & Young closed 18 stores, including its flagship Piccadilly store in London's West End.

The Zavvi chain has been badly affected by the demise of Woolworths. Zavvi's main supplier was Woolworths' Entertainment UK, which went into administration in late November.

Since then, Zavvi has had difficulties in sourcing stock and has been forced to enter new trading arrangements.

The Zavvi group is the UK's largest independent entertainment retailer.

It was formed after a management buy-out of the Virgin Megastore division of the Virgin Group in September 2007.