Shares in Taylor Wimpey spiked in the last minutes of trading on Wednesday, as an unknown investor looked set to try to resuscitate the housebuilder’s botched share placing.

The shares closed down 42 per cent at 35p, but gained ground late on, following an earlier fall of up to 60 per cent, after the developer announced it had failed to agree a £500m ($995m) refinancing deal with shareholders and potential new investors.