US franchise sandwich chain Quiznos has seen its retail estate in the UK shrink by nearly two-thirds in the past two years, with its store in Crawley, West Sussex, the latest to close down.

The number of Quiznos stores in the UK has reduced to just 11, from a high of 29 in 2008. The UK arm of the company, headquartered in Hove, East Sussex, had planned to grow the chain to some 200 stores, but has been badly affected by the recession. "We were hit hard by banks not lending money to franchisees," said Mehrdad Eshghipour, senior vice-president of operations in the UK. However, he added that a new store in Glasgow was due to open by the end of the month.

Quiznos, set up in Denver nearly 30 years ago, has more than 4,500 restaurants in the US.