Nearly 150 retail jobs are facing the axe after the collapse of a giant DIY chain.

Focus DIY stores will start closing down sales this weekend with heavy discounting across all stock lines.

Administrator Ernst & Young was called in to take over the running of the company after the home improvement chain’s debts spiralled.

The brand is majority owned by private equity firm Cerberus.

It has five stores in Sussex which employ 145 people – 19 in Hove, 30 in Burgess Hill, 31 in Hailsham, 28 in Hastings and 37 in Rustington, near Littlehampton.

The chain has struggled to compete with rivals B&Q and Wickes.

In 2009 the struggling chain agreed a company voluntary arrangement with its creditors to close its weakest stores and continue trading.

Joint administrator Simon Allport said: “We have been working hard to sell the business as a going concern and to maximise value for creditors.

“While we have been successful in securing up to 900 jobs from the sale of 55 stores in three separate deals, finding a buyer for the whole of the business has not been possible.

“UK retailers are facing one of the most challenging retail environments in recent times and the DIY sector has become highly competitive, with only the strongest players being able to thrive and survive.”

He said no deadline had been set for the closure of the stores but it would be a matter of weeks rather than days.

Gill Edinburgh, deputy chief executive at Sussex Enterprise, the county’s chamber of commerce, said that although the news was devastating for people who will lose their jobs, there are bright spots in the local economy.

She said: “It is going to be tough for retail over the coming months. But there are good news stories coming from the manufacturing and export sectors.”