They were an institution on Perth streets for more 40 years — but the Jiffy Food vans, which served sangas, snacks and smokes to generations, are no more.

On a Friday last month, a core of contracted drivers and full-time staff were told there would be no more rounds from the following Monday, as the food delivery company was to cease operating.

The keys were handed back, and the fleet of blue vans that had once delivered from Yanchep to Mandurah were gone — in a jiffy.

A month on, the business premises in Welshpool are up for sale or lease, with some of the vans also on sale. But concerns are being raised by former staff about outstanding entitlements they say they are owed by the company.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Fair Work Ombudsman have been contacted asking them to investigate. The ombudsman has confirmed they are “providing assistance to two workers in response to their requests”.

When The Weekend West contacted the company, it said it had “taken the trucks off the road, temporarily”.

That was news to the former employees, who on July 14 were handed a letter saying it was with “great regret and disappointment” the wheels would stop turning on the food vans which have serviced Perth since 1972. “We have put this off for many months thinking it would get better, but as you all know it hasn’t,” the letter said. “We wish it could be different and believe me we have tried.”

The next day, the distinctive blue vans were for sale online, and remain there.

Former driver Pauline Landry, 35, said staff were shocked and upset when told they were suddenly out of work. “We suspected it but it was still a shock to be left high and dry,” she said.

Jiffy Foods was bought by the Barnett family company, Celeste Corporation Pty Ltd, in 2002 and quickly expanded.

In 2008, the Australian Taxation Office applied for Celeste to be liquidated, after an alleged failure to pay more than $387,000 of staff superannuation.

That matter was settled, after it was explained accountants had ignored a tax office demand, believing the debt had been paid.

But in 2010, the company was back in WA’s Supreme Court, failing to challenge an outstanding superannuation charge debt owed to the tax office of $581,488.

Managing director John Barnett said this week Jiffy Foods “continues to trade in the wholesale and catering division, with our kitchens fully operational”.

“Any business in this tough economic climate needs the support of the people of Perth to keep going, so hopefully when we get back on the road, in whatever form, we will be welcomed back,” he said.