British bidder joins battle for MG

A British bid for the MG division of the stricken MG Rover Group is expected to be formally offered today.

Business trouble-shooter David James indicated that the bid from his consortium will be worth around £15m (€21m), and will be for the sports car division only, in the hope of maintaining a niche manufacturer on the Longbridge site in the West Midlands.

Mr James declined to name his financial backers, but said he expected them to sign up to the deal today, allowing him to make a formal bid to administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Two bids for the whole MG Rover Group are understood already to have come from Chinese motor manufacturers SAIC and Nanjing, the latter believed to be worth around £50m (€71m).