Cash has started flowing in from collapsed contractor Lancsville, after an auction was completed this month that saw nearly 500 items of plant sold

Several tower cranes and JCBs were among 460 pieces sold, totalling 鈥渕any hundreds of thousands of pounds鈥, according to auctioneer Edward Symmons.

But the 990 creditors, which are owed a total of 拢23m, may face a long wait yet, administrator Vantis warned.

Administrator Nick O鈥橰eilly said most of the money would be used to pay the administrator鈥檚 fees, before the largest creditor, Agilo 鈥 which is owed 拢8.5m 鈥 was paid back.

A report released by Vantis in February revealed that former employees of the failed firm could face investigation if missing assets, including tower cranes and plant equipment, were not found.

O鈥橰eilly said it was still unclear which plant remained unaccounted for, as some sites could still legally use Lancsville鈥檚 plant and machinery until the projects were complete. 鈥淭his makes it harder to ascertain what plant we have and what is missing.鈥

O鈥橰eilly added that creditors could be forced to wait for at least another year, until the projects were completed, before finding out whether they would receive any money.

Lancsville, which had a turnover of 拢139m in 2009, was put into administration in December.