Under a deal announced yesterday, tens of thousands of workers at car parts maker T&N look set to get their pensions, after a new deal offered by its US owner was accepted by unions.

It had been thought that up to 40,000 workers would be left without their full pension – or any pension at all – after parent company Federal Mogul filed for bankruptcy.

T&N’s pension fund had been hit hard by asbestos claims in the 1990s and went into bankruptcy protection in 2001. The fund had been frozen by Federal Mogul’s administrators and the scheme had faced being wound up, due to a £300m shortfall the parent was unable to meet.

Under the latest offer it is understood that Carl Icahn, Federal Mogul’s largest creditor, is to pay nearly £14m into the scheme annually for three years after the parent company emerges from liquidation.

Officials from the GMB, TGWU and Amicus have declared that they are “satisfied the deal is workable,” according to a recently released statement.