Car production in the UK saw its biggest quarterly fall in two and a half years in the three months to June, largely as a result of MG Rover’s collapse.

The drop was led by another sharp decline in production for the home market, according to official figures.

Car production fell by 4.9% compared with the previous three months, its biggest quarterly fall since January 2003, said the Office for National Statistics.

Total production was down 4.3% compared to the same three-month period a year ago, the biggest such drop since October last year.

The fall was led by a 10.8 per cent quarterly fall in home car production. Compared to a year ago, production for the UK market was down some 16 per cent.

UK production of commercial vehicles in the three months to June rose by 5.7 per cent compared with the previous three months, and by 9.8 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.