The National Union of Journalists is taking legal advice after all 80 staff at Sport Media Group were made redundant without notice.

Administrator BDO LLP confirmed yesterday that the entire workforce at the Manchester-based publisher had been laid off.

This has angered the NUJ, which wants to ensure that the 25 journalistic staff that worked on the Daily Sport and the Sunday Sport are compensated.

The collapse leaves workers with no immediate income and means they will have to make a claim to the government to secure rights to statutory payments, including redundancy, lost wages, notice payment and holidays.

The NUJ is "investigating the possibility" of lodging employment tribunal claims for members who worked at the two tabloids. It will also appeal on behalf of freelances owed payments.

Manchester-based NUJ negotiator Lawrence Shaw said: “We are determined that we will fight to get the best possible outcome from the wreckage for NUJ members. We demand a full investigation into what provoked the company’s failure.”

The publisher called in administrators on Friday. Managing director Andrew Fickling told employees that the company had run out of money.

BDO LLP hopes to find a buyer for the Sport titles but if it is unsuccessful it will mark the first closure of a UK national newspaper since Today's demise in 1995.