FURNITURE and bed firm Woodbridge Bedroom and Furniture Superstores has gone into administration.

The company, which has outlets in Shildon and Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, and in Sunderland, called in administrators after hitting financial difficulty.

The search for a buyer had started last night.

The Sunderland store has closed, but the County Durham stores remain open.

The announcement came hours after furniture retailer SCS revealed it had made half-year losses of £8.8m, and said it is "under no illusions" that the market would ease.

Ian Kings, from Woodbridge administrator Tenon Recovery, said: "The company has suffered from the general downturn in the sector and from the effects of the credit crunch.

"The Sunderland shop has the highest cost base and has therefore been closed. Bishop Auckland and Shildon continue to trade while a buyer is sought."

The revelation came as Sunderland- based SCS revealed its decline, and said that while it remains confident of a better second half, the 13 per cent drop in revenue to £91.8m and loss of £8.8m - down from £3.3m profit last year - were indicative of the challenging economic situation.

SCS said its expansion and refurbishment programme would continue to be on hold.

Like-for-like sales in the six months to January 26 were also down 15 per cent.

Chairman Mike Browne said: "While we remain confident of a profitable second half, we will continue to manage the business on the basis that we are unlikely to see any upturn for some time."