CREDITORS of collapsed MG Rover are to get back a fraction of the true amount they are owed.

Administrator Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) will deliver the grim news when it writes to creditors shortly. It must inform them within two months of October 8 - the six-month anniversary of its appointment - of developments. Only a small return is expected.

Although politicians are keen to point out that the collapse of Britain's last volume car maker has been less devastating than expected, the full extent of MG Rover's demise is only now being revealed.

A study for Birmingham City Council has shown that 15 per cent of the city's manufacturing capacity was lost when Longbridge closed.

The demise of car manufacturing has seen a one per cent reduction of £486m a year in the Birmingham and West Midlands gross domestic product - the accepted measure of a region's economic output. About £200m of public revenue has also been lost.

The human cost is also reflected in grim unemployment figures.

The number of people seeking work in the city had its highest monthly increase for 14 years while personal debt has more than doubled, from an average of £4,000 12 months ago to £9,500.

The council report says 12,200 people have been hit by the Longbridge crisis, through the supply chain and related companies.

The Birmingham Northfield constituency, home to the once mighty Longbridge, used to be well below the national unemployment average. Now it is three times higher.

The report also says MG Rover's new owner, Nanjing, has been unable to say when, or if, production will restart. Days after the surprise buy-out, Nanjing officials spoke of beginning MG production in the Midlands.

But the British consortium co-opted by the Chinese is still looking for finance and Nanjing officials now admits the MG project is still a "long-term" aspiration.

PWC says Longbridge's fate will not be known until next year.

Rob Hunt, joint administrator, said the situation was unclear.

PwC retains a presence at the plant, overseeing the sale of MG Rover vehicles.

Mr Hunt recently sounded a note of caution when asked about restarting production: "The big question is around the redevelopment of Longbridge - that is a five to ten-year programme. Whether or not that involves some or no car production, we are not going to know until early 2006."

Meanwhile, Longbridge continues to employ 300 former MG Rover workers picking over the bones of what was once part of the giant British Leyland set-up.