Hundreds of investors in a failed property venture - which went bust owing £40 million - have been told to expected pay-outs of four pence in the pound.

Administrators for Harewood Associates entered into mediation last year over collapsed investment schemes overseen by brothers David and Peter Kiely.

Now a report issued by administrators Begbies Traynor reveals a 'global settlement', concerning Harewood Associates and the related Harewood Venture Capital, was eventually agreed with lawyers totalling £1.2m.

In a report by Dean Watson, it was said: "The term of the global settlement are confidential, however, we are able to disclose that the total value is £1.2m, to be paid in scheduled instalments by ending on March 31, 2025.

"We have also received security over property."

Later it emerged this will result in 'interim distributions' of four pence in the pound for unsecured creditors were due, based on individual investments.

Members of the Harewood Investors Support Group on Facebook have labelled the pay-outs as "an absolute joke" and "an insult".

An estimated 850 to 900 investors across the UK and worldwide are thought to have been affected, covering 1,700 or more claims.

Some investors may receive less than four pence in the pound, depending on the nature of their claim, it is understood.

Controversy has surrounded the role of Harewood Venture Capital, with various investors submitting statements to a High Court hearing last year saying they were unaware their funds had been allocated to that outfit.

Liquidators had managed to recover £3m from a web of inter-linked firms controlled by David and Peter Kiely, since the firm crashed in June 2019.

A further £1m was recouped from a legal action involving a subsidiary, and another £300,000 has been clawed back by other means.

For several years Harewood Associates offered investors a healthy eight per cent return on their property schemes.

One previous estimate as part of the administration reported the best investors could hope to recoup was 16p in the pound.

Days after Harewood ran into difficulties, the Kielys switched the base of its main debtor from Chorley New Road, Bolton, to offices in Dalton Court, in Commercial Road, Darwen.

Administrators have said previously their largest debt was to Sherwood Homes, at £19.2m, which was run by the Kielys and owned by Clifton Argyle Ltd, of Dalton Court.

Another £16.7m was owed by Harewood Venture Capital (HVC), also ultimately owned by Clifton Argyle. A third Kielys outfit, Lansdowne Investment Partnership, under Walbury Commercial Ltd, based in Darwen since 2016, owed £2.8m.

Southworth Construction, a further Clifton Argyle offshoot, owed £1m and another Kiely company, Prestige New Homes, owed £345,000.