A move by helicopter service provider CHC Group to file for bankruptcy protection in the US will have no impact on its Norfolk base, the company has said.

The firm employs 25 people at Norwich Airport, but a spokesman said that the subsidiary which the UK operations fall under, CHC Scotia, was not affected by the filing of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection petitions on Thursday.

The petition offers the company protection from creditors and provides a process by which it can restructure and emerge as a viable business.

CHC Group said it had been hit by a downturn in business caused by 'a dramatic decline in oil prices since their peak in 2014', and an increase in idle aircraft, but that it expected normal day-to-day operations to continue.

Karl Fessenden, president and chief executive, said: 'The step we have taken today provides an orderly path to enhance our financial flexibility and establish a competitive capital and operating structure that will allow us to invest in and grow CHC's business over the long-term,' he said.