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Some of the biggest construction and maintenance firms in the country have been hit be multi-million pound fines following a five-year investigation into bid rigging by the Office of Fair Trading.

Over 100 firms were hit with fines of 拢130m after the OFT found them guilty of anti-competitive practices including bid-rigging and cover-pricing.

Kier suffered the largest fine of 拢17.9m. Other firms caught up in the investigation were Interserve, which was fined 拢11.6m, Balfour Beatty (拢5.2m) and Galliford Try (拢8.3m).

The OFT found six instances where firms had engaged in more serious anti-competitive behaviour, where successful bidders paid payments of between 拢2,500 and 拢60,000 to unsuccessful bidders.

Stephen Ratcliffe, director of UKCG, said the penalties were harsh but said contractors could no longer breach competition law.

He said: 鈥淣ow the investigation is over, we must all move on and ensure that the companies who have been fined for past practices are not discriminated against in the future.鈥�