Sacked workers hijack Twitter account

Staff at HMV used the company's official Twitter account to announce their own "mass execution" as administrators axed nearly 190 jobs.

The first indication that something was amiss came with a tweet that said: "We're tweeting live from HR where we're all being fired! Exciting!!"

The next message from the official Twitter feed read: "There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand."

A minute later one of the employees wrote: "Sorry we've been quiet for so long. Under contract, we've been unable to say a word, or - more importantly - tell the truth."

The next tweet said: "Just overheard our managing director (he's staying, folks) ask "How do I shut down Twitter."

Then 15 minutes later, all the offending tweets were removed. Shortly afterwards, administrators Deloitte put out a statement confirming the job losses.

The administrators, who were appointed on 15 January, are working on a rescue deal for the company ,which has 223 stores and more than 4,000 employees.