Cable giant Ntl has struck a deal with its main creditors in one of the biggest rescues in British corporate history.

The beleaguered cable company - the biggest in the UK - will be taken over by its creditors if the deal is officially sanctioned.

The deal announced today has been reached with an unofficial committee representing groups holding more than half the group's $11bn worth of bonds.

The arrangement means the company will default on the bond payments which fell due on 15 April, and file for a US Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which protects a company from its creditors while it restructures.

The firm has been struggling under the weight of more than £11.8bn in debt, amassed through the late 1980s and 1990s.