Holiday firm Pontin's, which employs 850 staff in the UK, has been placed in administration

All five sites - at Brean Sands in Somerset, Camber Sands in Sussex, Pakefield in Suffolk, Prestatyn Sands in Wales and Southport in Merseyside - will continue to cater for customers as normal and no redundancies have been made.

Administrator KPMG said it was optimistic of finding a buyer and hoped the Pontin's name would live on.

A spokeswoman for KPMG said the company had run out of cash because bookings had fallen drastically in the past year.

Pontin's slide into administration has come as a surprise because many UK holiday companies have benefited in recent years because more people have been taking holidays in the UK rather than abroad because of the weak pound.

Joint administrator Jane Moriarty said: "Pontin's is an iconic British brand which forms the backdrop to thousands of treasured family holiday memories.

"It has unfortunately struggled in the current economic environment but, with some support from new management, we are optimistic that it will be part of thousands of family memories in the years to come."

Pontin's was started when Fred Pontin opened the first Pontin's Holiday Park in Brean Sands in 1946. It is best known for its "blue coats" who offer entertainment and help to holidaymakers.

At one point, the Pontin's empire stretched to 30 parks and in 1978 it was bought by Coral for £56 million. The company was bought by Ocean Parks for £46 million in 2008, who closed a site in Blackpool last year.