The former directors of MG Rover are refusing to hand over remaining assets of the collapsed carmaker to a workers’ trust fund despite pledging to do so after it plunged into administration, reports The Times.

Despite amassed personal worth of at least £40 million, the ‘Pheonix Four’ cancelled a meeting yesterday with trust fund trustees announcing their solicitors are now advising against handing over assets while an inquiry is pending from the Department of Trade and Industry, which could last more than a year.

Eric MacDonald, an officer with the T&G union and a trustee, says: “We are extremely unhappy about this last-minute change of mind on the solicitors’ advice. We understood very clearly that the Phoenix Four had made an absolute commitment to hand over the assets to this trust fund for their hard-working and loyal former employees and we expect them to honour it.”

The Times also reports that the four directors have also decided to sever all communications with the media after the departure of their spokesman, Daniel Ward.

In a statement Ward said: “They have decided they don’t want to talk to the media at all. Any inquiry about the trust fund should go to the Bishop of Birmingham or Carl Chinn (a local historian and community activist).”