The despairing boss of one of Britain's leading developers has quoted the lyrics of Bob Dylan to encapsulate the 'apocalyptic' state of the commercial property market.

Tim Wheeler, chief executive of Brixton, turned to the song All Along The Watchtower as a metaphor of the company's dismal half-year results.

The beleaguered company boss quoted Dylan's 1967 track following news that the company suffered a pre-tax loss of £236.7million for the first six months of this year.

Prophet of gloom: Bob Dylan

The ballad - famously covered by Jimi Hendrix - sums up the credit crunch when it says: 'There must be some kind of way out of here / Said the joker to the thief / There's too much confusion / I can't get no relief.'

Gateshead-born Mr Wheeler - a self-confessed Dylan fan - compares equity-based opportunist buyers to 'thieves' and owners who will not sell to 'jokers'.

In prosaic terms, the company has suffered under a new tax on empty buildings and the fall in value of its rental portfolio.

Net assets are down 26 per cent to £1.16bn while its share price dropped by more than 9 per cent to 224.75p at the end of trading.

'There is confusion - and an element of denial - over direct property pricing due to lack of transactions,' Mr Wheeler declared.

He added: 'The apocalyptic opening lines of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower seem to capture the beleaguered mindset of the UK commercial real estate market.'

Mr Wheeler's company has also found itself with a growing number of empty properties with a rise from 15.4 per cent in December to a total of 18.7 per cent in June.

'It's our job to tell it like it is,' Mr Wheeler said.

'It's wrong for any business to just hope the economic problems will go away. It's an uncomfortable message, but it's honest and fair.'

However, Mr Wheeler did hold out some hope for a better future and said that Brixton could hold back the economic downturn by not starting any new developments.

Instead the developers could keep a look-out for distressed properties when price hit rock-bottom - it is only when these properties come onto the market that there may be a way out of the current situation.

'We are here with the cash to take advantage of those opportunities,' said the chief executive.

The retail market accounts for only 20 per cent of Brixton's portfolio, so even though Mr Wheeler explains that there is no way of telling when the property market will improve, his company should be able avoid any major problems.