Ancient and revered High Street retailer, Woolworths has decided to dump HD-DVD from its shelves, leaving Blu-ray as the only hi-def disc format to be sold next to the £10 Tender Strapocasters (sic) and the pic'n'mix.

Woolies - which has just 'parted company' with Lloyd Wigglesworth, the managing director of its EUK (Entertainment wholesale division) - in the form of DVD buyer Steven McGunigel commented on the decision as follows:

"Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving towards one format of high definition DVD. The main reason is the success of Sony's PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-ray discs, there are over three quarters of a million homes in the U.K. that can view the new high definition format. There is nowhere near that number of HD DVD players around.

"Switching to Blu-ray only will provide one clear offer to customers in the format they want to watch high definition movies in".

HD-DVD mainstay, Toshiba, responded to decision to kick it out onto the High Street via its European assistant general manager (UK consumer products division), Olivier Van Wynendaele, telling MCV:

"We have been hugely successful in expanding the number of consumers owning HD-DVD players. UK consumers can now pick-up an HD-DVD player for less than £150, around half the cost of other HD formats. Even before pricing reached this level, HD-DVD represented more than 60 per cent of the overall standalone high definition market.

"Just as importantly for movie retailers, HD-DVD has always enjoyed greater software sales per player than any other HD format. In fact, HD-DVD owners have already bought around 3.5 movies each, compared to less than one movie sold per Blu ray device.

"While we’re disappointed by Woolworths’ decision, it is extremely early to spot which format will eventually win. As the figures I mention show – where consumers have a choice, they choose HD-DVD".

Right, thanks for that Olivier. Now, back on real life world...