Qu Li, the Chinese industrial consultant whose role in the collapse of MG Rover was lambasted in a government-sponsored report, has bought the assets of van maker LDV, another defunct vehicle maker. She plans to set up an electric van company in the Midlands that will employ 200 people.

The move is just the latest surprising twist in the history of LDV, which collapsed with 850 job losses earlier this year. It is also a new chapter in the tale of Ms Li, who became the target of frenzied tabloid speculation when it emerged that she had an affair with Nick Stephenson, a director of MG Rover, a company she was paid £1.7m to advise.