Phones 4u managers suffered a final blow from network operator EE when their phones were cut off as they attempted to brief staff on the firm's collapse.

A source close to Phones 4u said senior managers were left frustrated by the loss of connections when they were trying to look after the welfare of workers following the sudden demise of the business.

EE triggered the collapse of the firm by not renewing its contract. It said the outage affecting 552 connections yesterday afternoon had nothing to do with Phones 4u going into administration.

A spokesman said: "As a result of a mistaken and unauthorised action by an individual, some members of the team at Phones 4u were briefly disconnected for 49 minutes yesterday."