BURY'S latest bid for more cash out of the BCCI fiasco has failed.

The council was claiming damages against the Bank of England, which, it says, was negligent in its regulation of BCCI.

But a High Court judge this week threw out the claim which, had it been successful, would have secured £550 million for thousands of investors.

Bury lost £6.5 million when BCCI went bust in 1991 in the world's biggest banking collapse.

Last Christmas, the council received nearly a quarter of its money back under a deal struck with the bank's main shareholders. A further ten or 15 per cent is anticipated.

The case against the Bank of England was brought by the liquidator, accountancy firm Deloitte and Touche, on behalf of 6,000 depositors.

Bury, one of the UK's biggest losers, was among the very first to join the legal action.

While the Bank of England welcomed Wednesday's ruling, the liquidators are expected to pursue their claim, perhaps even through the European courts.

Mr John Cook, borough treasurer, said Bury would wait to receive the court's full judgement before taking legal advice on whether to keep pressing the issue.

"If the case was successful and damages were awarded, that would have benefited the residents of Bury," he said. "But it's not good news for the authority."

The council has tens of millions of pounds invested at any one time, although it has tightened up its rules on lending since the BCCI crash.

Regardless of the setback, Bury and other creditors are still taking legal action against BCCI's auditors.

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