EXETER: Rok administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers hope to sell the failed firm despite potential buyers walking away from any deal.

PwC is believed to have given up hope of selling the contractor in its entirety and it will now be split up, said the Enquirer website.

The state of Rok's books stunned interested contractors, believed to include Galliford Try and Sisk. Rok potentially owes £150m to trade creditors, including merchants.

PwC is now talking to contractors not put off by the numbers and hopes to tie-up a deal quickly. Morrison is still in the frame while Mears has cooled its interest, said the Enquirer.

One contractor interested in Rok's general construction work told the Enquirer: "We had a look hoping to pick up some decent work but there just wasn't much on the books. Most of the projects were small scale stuff and you could see how the work had been drying up for them for quite a while."