Things are going from bad to worse for Oakdene Homes. Last week the housebuilder, which has breached bank covenants and is relying on a temporary loan, revealed that some investors who had committed to buy part of a share placing to raise £10 million had pulled out of the deal. Yesterday Oakdene fell 2¾p to 8¾p after it said that it had received a £2.5 million writ from ITV Meridian, from whom it bought a former television studios in Southampton a year ago for £8.5 million.

ITV claims that Oakdene has deliberately delayed putting in a planning application for 550 homes, including two 18-storey blocks of flats, in order to delay paying the extra £2.5 million due when permission is granted. Oakdene said that it expected to put in its application next month. It had been complicated by the need for a 12-month assessment of the impact of the site on bird migration patterns.

JJB Sports fell a further 9¼p to 27p as Coface, a credit insurer, said that it had withdrawn cover for its suppliers. This means that sportswear makers are likely to demand up-front payments for their goods, just as HBOS, JJB’s bank, has said that it has breached bank covenants. Arden Partners, downgrading to “sell”, said that suppliers may decide not supply at all, which will hit trading.

Falling commodity prices, credit squeeze fears and margin calls on holders of contracts for difference drove a big sell-off of small-cap explorers. Central African Mining fell 5¼p to 8¼p, not helped by yet more political upheavals in Zimbabwe. Max Petroleum, the Kazahkstan-focused oil explorer, fell 8¼p to 17¾p amid fears that a deal to sell stakes in two licences in the country, for which it said it had much interest two weeks ago, may not materialise.

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