Beleaguered mobile phone retailer Phones 4u is to close 362 stores, with the loss of nearly 1,700 jobs, administrators have said.

The future of Phones 4u and its 5,600 employees is hanging by a thread today as administrators begin talks on whether any stores can reopen.

More than 500 Phones 4u stores were shut today after the retail chain plunged into administration – putting 5,600 jobs into jeopardy.

Despite a minimum age limit of 13 years, 85% of nine to 12-year-olds are using social networking website Facebook, causing principals and teachers to have to deal with cyberbullying on an almost daily basis.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone today said it was buying Singlepoint, the mobile phone services operation owned by entrepreneur John Caudwell, for £405m (€574.8m).