KPMG and other advisers to Courts, the collapsed furniture retailer, have collected more than £35m in fees since the company went into administration in November 2004.

More than three years after Courts collapsed, the group's pension fund remains in limbo and pensioners are facing an uncertain future. Former staff are still waiting to be paid and the majority of creditors have been warned they are unlikely to receive a penny.

KPMG has charged £23.7m in fees and expenses. The majority of the fees have been earned by the accountant's UK office which has, to date, billed for 55,353 hours of work, collecting £18.5m, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Chris Laverty, a KPMG partner and the Courts administrator, vigorously rejected suggestions the fees were ‘outrageous’. ‘This was an incredibly complex administration, involving global corporate finance transactions,’ she said. ‘There were numerous complications.’