Almost 1,700 Phones 4U staff are to be made redundant after administrators confirmed that 362 stores out of the original estate of 700 outlets will close.

"It is with much regret that we have today made the difficult decision to close a large number of stores," said Rob Hunt, from the administrators PwC.

"We will make every effort to help the affected staff, working with the Phones 4U HR team over the coming days to support employees."

A row over who is to blame for the collapse of the retailer is continuing, with Phones 4U founder John Caudwell blaming its failure on the “ruthless actions” of mobile phone networks.