Rail deal hits taxpayers

The collapse of the £5bn West Coast Main Line deal will reportedly bring "a significant cost to the taxpayer", according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report.

The government was forced to make a u-turn on its decision to award the franchise to FirstGroup in October, after it emerged that come of the calculations had been faulty.

It has already estimated the cost of reimbursing four firms for the cost of their bids would be £40m. The NAO said costs for staff, advisers, lawyers and the two reviews into the fiasco added up to a further £8.9m.