ABERDEEN-based Scotia Linen Services, described as Scotland's largest independent laundry and dry-cleaning business, has fallen into administration with the immediate loss of 17 jobs after being hit by high energy prices.

Joint administrators Iain Fraser and Tom MacLennan, of accountancy firm Tenon, plan to continue trading Scotia as they attempt to sell the business as a going concern.

The 17 redundancies are a result of the closure of Scotia's factory and shop at Whitburn in West Lothian, and of the company's locations in Edinburgh's New Town and at George Street and Cornhill in Aberdeen.

Scotia employed 108 people across 19 sites stretching from Fraserburgh to Edinburgh. Six sites provide industrial-scale laundry facilities for major corporate clients, including hotels and ferries, and employ around 60 staff.

The remaining 12, in residential areas, have been providing dry-cleaning and associated services to individuals.

Scotia was founded in 1992 as a single branch, and its annual turnover has since grown to more than £2m.