Spanish bank that refused to return off-plan deposits belonging to 47 British expats who invested in a failed Spanish property development has been ordered to repay €1.5million, following a six-year legal battle.

Known collectively as the Finca Parcs Action Group, the expats each paid between €10,000-70-000 in deposits for off-plan homes on a 'luxury development' near Murcia, only for the developer to disappear and Spain's fourth biggest savings bank, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo (CAM), to withold their downpayments.

Keith Rule who has headed the action group and fought for the return of his €53,000, said: "For far too long Spain has alienated the very people who once helped the country prosper.

"Now the Spanish Government must learn important lessons from this case.

"If these types of cases are dealt with in a fair and speedy manner then maybe some of those people who have been the victims of negligence and malpractice may once again have the confidence to invest in Spanish property.

"After all that is what Spain wants and more importantly, desperately needs."