Goodyear has announced a £705m loss in the fourth quarter of last year, its largest quarterly loss in more than ten years.

Although sales rose 1.7 per cent to £2.26bn compared with the previous year, Goodyear wrote down the value of tax credits in view of its losses over the past two years.

The North American business, Goodyear's largest division, showed an operating loss of £22.6m for the quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of £30.5m. The tyremaker is still reviewing the future of its Wolverhampton tyre plant.