MG Rover has begun legal action against Express Newspapers over a Sunday Express story suggesting the carmaker has suspended payments to suppliers.

The Sunday Express suggests that the supplier move could herald the closure of the carmaker. Furious MG Rover chiefs have vehemently denied all these claims – including the suggestion that it may move production to Poland. MGR has now launched the legal action for a retraction of the story as well as threatening withdrawal of around £3m in advertising placed with the newspaper group annually.