A BBC investigation into Tesco unveiled the underlying financial and management problems at the retailer which has led to the recent redundancies and store closures across the UK and Ireland.

BBC Panorama's "Trouble at Tesco" special found that financial controls which led to Tesco's misstatement of its forecasted profits was noticed by its chief financial officer in 2012, but the behaviour continued in some parts of the business. The £263m misstatement revealed last year is now the subject of a Fraud Office investigation, Panorama found.

It also found that a dispute over supplier agreements with L'Oreal over almost £1m worth of charges, fees and fines from Tesco led to the retailer being threatened with legal action. The cosmetics firm also threatened to take its products off Tesco's shelves.

Two of the retailers former chief executives featured in the programme and disputed the cause of Tesco's current difficulties. Sir Terry Leahy, who stepped down as chief executive in 2011 after 14 years, said the culture in the retailer had changed under his successor, Phil Clarke, "and not for the better". He also said that Tesco losing its low price reputation "eroded" customer's trust in the retailer which has led to customers being lost and declining shares.

However Phil Clarke, who stepped down from the role in June last year said that changes were needed when he took over as issues had "been building for some time".

Earlier this month new chief executive, Dave Lewis, unveiled a plan to implement a range of cost-cutting measures aimed at saving £250m a year at a one-off price of £300m.

Figures released yesterday showed that Tesco have retained their leadership of the Irish grocery market, with a 25.4% market share over Christmas.

Read more here.