Breathe.com which is the UK's fourth largest Internet service provider are in the hands of administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after collapsing with losses of around £50 million.

The company that is controlled by Martin Dawes, mobile phone entrepreneur, is reported as one of the biggest dotcom failures that the UK has seen to date.

PwC have stated that they are still looking to see the business as a going concern and are continuing to operate whilst searching for a buyer. There are no plans at present to make any of the 140 staff employed with Breathe.com working in London and Warrington to be made redundant.

Last week, Breath.com had approached potential buyers in a last effort to increase funds and they have also had to scrap their unmetered 'breathe-freely' access service as they looked at ways of saving money.

Mr Dawes, mentioned about three months ago at his intention at floating Breathe.com next year which would have valued the company at around £100 million. In August subscriber levels passed the half a million mark, with revenues of around £450 per month.