ROVER has lost to Ford the contract, worth up to £24 million, to supply cars to Severn Trent Water's 1,700-strong fleet for the next three years.

Birmingham-based Severn Trent was two years into a five-year solus contract with Rover to supply a range of models, from 200s to 800s, for its user-chooser fleet. A Severn Trent spokesman said: 'We have a new contract with Ford and from April 1 any new cars will be from the Ford range.'