Massive blow to taxi firm Manganese Bronze as it recalls 400 black cabs for faulty steering box

The troubled maker of famous London taxis was thrown into further turmoil today after it announced plans to recall 400 black cabs and suspend sales after discovering a steering box fault.

Manganese Bronze said it had discovered a defect with new steering boxes in its TX4 models, which were introduced in production at its Coventry factory in late February.

It warned that the recall and sales suspension would have a "material and detrimental" impact on its cashflow and said it was looking at options for the firm.

The news comes as the latest blow to the company, which has been hit by mounting losses and a recent accounting blunder that left it with a £4 million hole in its accounts.

Manganese, which suspended trading of its shares earlier in the day, said it was working with Chinese partner Geely to fix the steering box fault.

But it said: "Until such time that a technical solution is developed to rectify the fault, the financial position of the group remains unclear and trading in the company's shares will remain suspended."

PA