THOUSANDS of ex-staff at Longbridge's former MG Rover plant are set to receive compensation, after £44m was recovered from a German liquidator.

The liquidators acting on behalf of the workers, who lost their jobs when the firm collapsed in 2005, say the money should be distributed to the 5,300 creditors before the end of the year.

Matthew Hammond, PwC Midlands region chairman, said: “We have clawed back an extra £44m for creditors, including many former employees.

"This money was recovered from the German liquidator of an MG Rover subsidiary company.

"This will mean that by the end of 2018 we should be able to distribute further monies to the 5,300 creditors which will be equivalent to another 50 per cent of what they've already received - a good result at this stage of a liquidation process."

John Towers, Peter Beale, John Edwards and Nick Stephenson, the four executives of Phoenix Venture Holdings, bought the Longbridge-based firm for £10 in 2000, going on to pay themselves £40m.

Former workers, unions and members of the Justice for Workers group have led the fight for compensation for more than a decade.