Things aren't looking good for Tesco.
Britain's biggest supermarket has just suspended four senior executives after admitting it overestimated profits in its next set of half-year results by a staggering £250 million.
Tesco has called in accountancy firm Deloitte to carry out an "independent and comprehensive" review into the serious accounting errors, which were exposed to the supermarket's general council by a whistleblower on Friday.
Shares in Tesco dived to their lowest level in 11 years after the news, which follows the worst financial results in its 90-year history earlier this year.
Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital Stockbrokers said he was "flabbergasted" by the news. "These are serious times for Tesco and its shareholders," he said.
The public reaction to the plight of the retail chain has been unsympathetic, with widespread tweets crowing over the bad figures.
The supermarket wouldn't confirm reports that UK managing director Chris Bush is one of the four members of staff suspended, but embattled chief executive Dave Lewis has put Tesco's multichannel director Robin Terrell in charge of the UK team.
"We have uncovered a serious issue and have responded accordingly," Lewis said.
The errors are related to Tesco's reporting of the income it receives from suppliers, in its next half-year results which will now be announced on 23 October 23 instead of the planned date of 1 October.
Tesco's decline follows a history of triumph: the brand launched in East London in 1924 and quickly grew. It is now the world's third biggest supermarket.
But the current trouble isn't the first time Tesco has faced serious upheaval:
Tesco's darkest hours
The bomb threat(01 of06)
Open Image ModalIn 2001 a blackmailer who called themselves 'Sally' tried to extort £5 million from Tesco by posting parcel bombs to the supermarket's customers.
"Sally" sent letters to Tesco stores threatening to hurt customers if Tesco didn't provide Clubcards which were modified to allow cash to be withdrawn from cash machines.
She sent out several letter bombs, including one which arrived and causing the receiver shock and minor injuries. As the threats escalated, Tesco even began to created the modified Clubcards, but didn't make enough to meet the deadline 'Sally' had set.
Police eventually found out that 'Sally' was Robert Dyer through surveillance on a postbox to which some of the letters had been traced. Dyer was sentenced to 16 years for blackmail and assault, which was later reduced to 12 on appeal. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The other bomb threat(02 of06)
Open Image ModalA former tax inspector targeted the supermarket giant in a £1 million blackmail plot in 2007. Phillip McHugh sent 76 letters to Tesco, threatening to bomb stores and contaminate products if it did not give in to his demands for a total of £1 million.
As a precaution, Tesco closed 14 stores in July 2007, leading to loss of around £1.4 million in revenue. McHugh, who was addicted to online gambling and had debts of £37,000, was jailed for six years. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The not-so-popular supermarket(03 of06)
Open Image ModalTesco's UK growth hasn't always been warmly received.
Its dominance - at its peak one pound in every seven spent in the UK was through Tesco, though Tesco said last year the figure was more like one in eight.
Resistance from local, smaller shops and fans of independent retail have protested and as Tesco moves into town.
According to non-profit organisation Ethical Network, local communities could be losing inward investment of up to £100bn every year because of supermarket centralisation. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When Poland said no to Tesco(04 of06)
Open Image ModalIn January this year, an immigration spat between David Cameron and the Polish prime minister led to calls for Jan Bury, head of the the Polish Peasants Party, calling on Poles to boycott Tesco.
He called Cameron's policies "unfriendly and scandalous" and said: "As Poles, we can also say 'no' to prime minister Cameron and his policies. We call on Poles to boycott British retailer Tesco."
In response, Tesco reminded Poland that it employs tens of thousands of people in the country. (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The worst results in history(05 of06)
Open Image ModalPainful financial results showing a 3.7% drop in like-for-like sales between March and May 2014, marking the "worst trading in their history", according to analysts.
Experts said this could be because of cutting prices to compete with low-price supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi, and trying to appeal to everyone, therefore missing out on specialised markets (credit:LEON NEAL via Getty Images)
The 'mad' bosses(06 of06)
Open Image ModalAfter June's record poor results, Tesco's senior executives were accused of "arrogance" and being "delusional".
At the supermarket's annual general meeting, they were told they were "arrogant" when Tesco was doing well. One shareholder said: "You're a supermarket. It's not your job to be loved." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)