​A contractor which was working on a £10 million refurbishment contract in homes across the Bath area has been saved from closure.

Troubled social housing group Connaught has been bought by construction firm Morgan Sindall, in a £28 million deal which will save around 2,500 jobs.

It is not yet clear how exactly the takeover will affect Connaught’s work in Somer Housing’s properties in the Bath area, where it is putting in new heating systems.

The news comes two days after KPMG was appointed as administrator for the main company and its subsidiaries, Connaught Partnerships and Connaught Technical Solutions.

Lovell Partnerships, Morgan Sindall's affordable housing arm, has agreed to acquire the majority of the ongoing contracts and the assets of the collapsed group's social housing business.

Somer already works closely with Lovell, which has the contract to rebuild homes affected by concrete cancer locally.

Morgan Sindell expects its newly-acquired contracts to generate £200 million in additional annual revenues.

Its chairman John Morgan said: “Our focus now will be to ensure a smooth handover of the contracts and to minimise disruption to essential maintenance services.”

Lovell, which last year announced operating profits of £14.9 million, did not specify the number of contracts that will be added to its books, although a spokesman said it was the 'bulk' of the social housing business.