Tax collectors have agreed to defer the value added tax charges on £120m of components delivered to MG Rover but not paid for.

The move by Revenue and Customs improves the survival chances of the most vulnerable companies affected by Rover's collapse earlier this month.

Some 300 suppliers are still owed money by the car manufacturer.

During a visit to a scheme to retrain former Rover apprentices, Gordon Brown insisted that a Labour government was not going to walk away.

The chancellor said: "We will make sure that ever worker affected is given the support, the skills and the opportunities to find new employment."