DERMOT O'Leary's seafood restaurant Fishy Fishy in Brighton has shut its doors after seven years.

The X Factor presenter opened the East Street brasserie with friends in 2009 but on Monday it closed, following in the wake of its sister restaurant in Poole.

Employees have been left furious at the venue's sudden closure which has left some 12-15 people out of work.

Staff said they were called into a meeting on Monday morning and were told the seafood restaurant, which has a four star customer approval rating on TripAdvisor, was to close its doors for the last time.

When The Argus visited the restaurant yesterday a sign was posted on the door informing customers of the shutdown.

One frustrated staff member said: "Dermot’s got tons of money in the bank but he’s just come out and told us we’re all out of work.

"We were all pulled in and told we were out of a job, but he’s still in a big house in London without any worries."

Representatives for the management said staff were given fully paid notice.

According to publicly filed accounts, the company finished the last financial year £238,000 in the red.

Yesterday, O'Leary said: “After seven years Fishy Fishy is moving on from our 36 East Street location. We would like to thank all of our customers, staff and the good people of Brighton for their loyalty and support. Future plans are currently in discussion.”

Over the Christmas period the brasserie was selling gift vouchers, but management said anyone who purchased one would be entitled to a refund.

The former TV presenter opened the Brighton restaurant with James Ginzler and Paul Shovlin.

Fishy Fishy's shutdown comes three years after Dermot's Poole restaurant of the same name also went under.

At the time, Mr Ginzler said a "lack of footfall" was to blame the closure while the Radio 2 presenter blamed the "current financial climate".

After the Poole branch's closure, the celeb assured the press that its Brighton sister was "doing fine".