Rover probe findings may be kept secret

THE findings of a Government probe into the alleged £427m black hole behind the financial collapse of MG Rover may never see the light of day.

The investigation by the Financial Reporting Council is to be finished by early next week and will be handed directly to new Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson. He has privately suggested that the report, the only study into the Rover debacle, may not be published at all.

The DTI last night said it had not decided whether the findings would be released. 'It's a decision for the Secretary of State. It's for him to absorb the report and publication will depend on the findings and what, if any, further action needs to be taken.'

Johnson's final decision is likely to be based on conduct reports from MG Rover's administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers on the behaviour of the so-called Phoenix Four. The quartet - John Towers, John Edwards, Peter Beale and Nick Stephenson - already stand accused of feathering their nests with £40m in salary and pension payments in the five years that they ran MG Rover.

PwC has up to six months from the date of its appointment as administrator in April to file reports on the four.