Future grim for Rover workers

THOUSANDS of workers at ailing car giant MG Rover were sent home on full pay yesterday and were left in no doubt that the chances of a deal to secure their future were slim.

Administrators appointed to run the company after the collapse of talks with a proposed Chinese partner said they had no plans to resume production at Longbridge in Birmingham.

They said that without a £6.5m emergency Government loan they would have announced 5,300 redundancies yesterday.