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From the BBC:

High Street legend Woolworths has buckled under its debt and is set to go into administration, BBC business editor Robert Peston has learned.

The move will put tens of thousands of jobs at its 815 stores under threat.

The board of Woolies - one of the UK's oldest store groups - will meet at 1800 GMT to take the formal decision.

Deloitte will be appointed as administrators to the store chain and also to Entertainment UK, which supplies DVDs to supermarket groups.

However, Woolworths joint venture with the BBC, 2 Entertain, will not go into administration. It is owned by Woolworths' parent company, which will not go into administration.

The UK's Woolworths has no connection with several retail chains around the world that carry the same name.

See how Woolworths' shares plunged during the past year

High Street trouble


WOOLWORTHS FACTS
Unknown Woolworths store, 1955
First UK store opened in Liverpool in 1909
Has 815 stores across the UK
Owns 40% share of publisher 2 Entertain
Owns distribution business Entertainment UK

What is the point of Woolworths?
The news of Woolworths' demise comes on the same day that furniture chain MFI announced that it was to go into administration.

The company had asked its landlords for a rent-free period to help sort out its financial problems.

However, the troubled company with its more than 1,000 staff, failed to reach an agreement.

MFI had suffered several years of financial trouble. Only last September, as part of a management buyout led by chief executive Gary Favell, 81 loss-making outlets were placed into administration.

Now the remaining 110 stores could face closure.

Woolworths' £385m debt

The collapse of Woolworths is also likely to lead to the closure of hundreds of stores across the UK, and many thousands of redundancies.

The store chain employs 25,000 and Entertainment UK employs 5,000.

The company has struggled under the weight of £385m of debt. Its problems were compounded over the past couple of months when it was forced to pay cash when buying goods from suppliers, because trade credit insurers were no longer prepared to insure suppliers to Woolworths.

The company had tried all day to find buyers for its business.