The administrators for MG Rover today confirmed the worst fears of creditors with news that the company had little left of value to sell.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said it was beginning to prepare for a sale of what was left of Rover, but found few valuable assets in the group because much had already been disposed of.

More than 600 interested parties have contacted the administrators since the Longbridge-based carmaker collapsed but only nine of these convinced PwC that they had enough funds to to buy Rover's remaining assets. Realistically just three had any chance of succeeding, the company said.

Rover filed for bankruptcy in April after joint venture talks with China's state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation collapsed.

Over 5,000 workers were laid off from the Longbridge factory in Birmingham and thousands of others employed at firms that had supplied parts to MG Rover were also affected.

PwC met hundreds of creditors who are each owed more than £120m because of the demise of the company. In total, there are £1.4bn worth of creditors' claims from creditors and that figure is likely to rise.

Creditors can expect to get as little as between 1p and 5p in the pound, according to estimates. After preferred creditors and secured bank loans are paid, assets may be as little as £80.5m, out of which the administrators' own costs could also make a "substantial" dent.

The Department of Trade and Industry last month launched an investigation into Rover's collapse after questions were raised about its accounts. The move followed an analysis of the years up to 2003 by the Financial Reporting Council watchdog.