Leisure group Georgica has aborted its plans to sell its Tenpin bowling operations, blaming the credit crunch for a lack of interested buyers.

The in a statement the company, which owns and operates the Rileys chain of snooker clubs and Tenpin bowling centres, said: "Several indicative offers were received but due to both a difficult banking market and deteriorating trading conditions, none of these has resulted in an acceptable offer for the company.

"All discussions have therefore been terminated."

Following the news, shares in the company fell nearly 20 per cent on the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier this year, Don Hanson, Georgica chair, said the sale of Tenpin would lead to a demerger to create two wholly separate businesses – Rileys and Tenpin.

In August, Georgica reported first half, pre tax losses of £654,000, down from a profit of £404,000 the year before.