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Pizza Express has said it could close around 67 of its restaurants in the UK.

Up to 1,100 jobs are expected to be at risk as a result of the major restructuring plan.

The chain said it plans to launch a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in the “near future” in a bid to push down its rents.

The restructuring deal could lead to the closure of 15% of its 449 restaurants, although the final outcome of the restructuring has “yet to be decided”.

The company said: “This decision is a very difficult one; however, against the current unprecedented backdrop, Pizza Express believes reducing the size of its estate will help it to protect 9,000 jobs.”

In July, the entrepreneur who helped build Pizza Express into one of the UK’s biggest restaurant chains, said high street casual dining chains have “no future”.

The model for midmarket branded restaurants was “absolutely broken”, Hugh Osmond said, because private equity firms buying these businesses “fail to understand the business they are acquiring”.

Zoe Bowley, UK and Ireland managing director, said: “Our business has a long history of success, but the UK-wide lockdown has hit the hospitality industry particularly hard.

“While the financial restructuring is a positive step forward, at the same time we have had to make some really tough decisions.

“As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we expect to permanently close a proportion of our restaurants, losing valued team members in the process.”

The company also plans to sell its business in mainland China, where it runs 60 restaurants.