The demise of the UK’s last mass manufacturer, MG Rover, could end up costing taxpayers more than £600 million.

It has cost UK taxpayers a total of £270m so far (2000 - 2005).

The public accounts committee said the eventual figures included a Government loan that would have to be written off as well as a £500m gap in Rover's pension scheme.

A further 2,000 people still remain out of work as a result of the closure of Rover's Longbridge factory, where 6,000 people were employed.

  • The report into the cost of the collapse of MG Rover comes a week after new owner, Nanjing Automobile said it would be injecting £10m into reviving production of the MGF sports car at the Longbridge site. The site will have a renewed annual capacity of 15,000 cars.