Dick Croft, an officer at trade union Amicus, said that members were still angry over the lack of consultation undertaken by Kroll before it froze pension fund contributions by the British subsidiaries of Federal Mogul. Croft said: 'It does appear to be callous ... I don't have any apologies for using that language as I think it reflects the views and the feelings of our members.'

The independent trustee of the pension fund of subsidiary Turner & Newall, the scheme for Federal Mogul's UK employees, suggested the move had increased the likelihood of the scheme having to be wound up.

Should that happen, the closure would be the biggest of an under-funded pension scheme for 10 years, with an estimated deficit of £875m. Around 20,000 people could lose half their benefits.

Federal Mogul workers, such as Nigel Foster at the company's Bradford plant, have been protesting over the threat to their pensions.

Kroll described the pension fund as 'one of the major challenges' of restructuring Federal Mogul. It said it had been left with no choice but to freeze payments after seeking guidance from the High Court, and claimed consultation had been impossible.