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A Serious Fraud Office (SFO) probe into the collapse of MG Rover is expected to be confirmed later.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is due to issue a written statement to Parliament outlining the decision to call in the SFO following a four-year investigation into the carmaker's demise.

The Birmingham-firm's 2005 collapse led to the loss of 6,000 internal jobs and many more at affected suppliers and dealers.

The four executives in charge of MG Rover at the time reportedly said then there was "no suggestion of improper conduct".

The Government launched an investigation immediately after Rover's collapse to examine what went wrong between Phoenix Ventures acquisition of the firm in 2000 and administrators being brought in.

But the inquiry took far longer than first thought and has cost the taxpayer £16m to produce.

The report was finally submitted around three weeks ago and there were calls last month for the findings to be made public.

However, it is understood a decision to call in the SFO could see the publication of the report withheld pending the investigation.

The MP for Birmingham Northfield, Richard Burden, whose constituency includes almost all of the former MG Rover site, said it was "right" that any matters arising out of the Government inquiry should be pursued and that "nothing is done to prejudice those inquiries".

But he added: "What I do know is that my constituents - including many former MG Rover workers - and the people in the West Midlands still need to be told the facts about what led to the closure of the company."

Mr Burden also expressed concern about the delay in payments from a trust fund set up to help ex-employees in the event of the firm's collapse.

The inquiry was set up under the Companies Act by then trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson.

Mr Johnson said at the time an investigation covering the two years leading up to the collapse was in the public interest.