The collapse in the property market took a further heavy toll today as one of the country's biggest suppliers to builders axed 2300 jobs.

Wolseley, which specialises in supplying kit for plumbers through its Plumb Center chain, said the majority of the cuts will be in the UK, where it has already shed hundreds of staff. The latest cull will represent about 15% of the UK staff.

The firm, which will close more than 200 branches, announced the cuts alongside a 45% slump in f irst-quarter profits. It has also been hit hard by the collapse in the US property market. It has slashed 15,000 jobs worldwide since August last year.

Housebuilder Barratt today highlighted how tough the construction market is as it said it would again cut the value of its land holdings from the already-reduced £568 million estimated in September.

Barratt, which axed 1200 staff in July, said it had started shifting more properties but mainly because of aggressive promotions that are hitting profit margins and home prices.

Wolseley joins a depressing roll call of massive redundancies over the past few days. Citigroup yesterday said it will shed 52,000 jobs worldwide, at least 1000 of them in the UK. BT, Yell, Virgin Media and Vodafone announced thousands of job cuts last week while Avis Europe yesterday said it was axeing 315 staff.