LLOYD'S of London's rescue plan survived a last ditch legal battle in the English High Court yesterday.

The Paying Names Action Group (PNAG) had applied for a judicial review of the recovery proposals, because it believed they were unfair to those investors or Names who have continued to meet cash calls to settle debts at Lloyd's.

But Lord Justice Brooke throw the case out after two days in the High Court.

After 15 minutes of deliberation Lord Justice Brooke said he had no jurisdiction to entertain the case in public law.

Even if he had jurisdiction, he said, he would have dismissed the case on grounds of delay and on grounds of merit.

"Lloyd's has not acted perversely or irrationally," he said. He is due to give reasons for his decision today.

The judgment will come as a bitter blow to PNAG, which almost never made it to the High Court amid funding concerns last weekend.

Monday's hearing had been postponed to Wednesday.

The 33,500 Names worldwide have until August 28th to accept or reject the recovery plan, which proposes reinsuring liabilities totalling billions of pounds into a new company called Equitas.

The judicial review was the last British legal challenge facing Lloyd's ahead of this deadline.

A lawyer at Warner Cranston, which has been acting for PNAG, said afterwards that it was too ready to say what the action group would do next. Either side can appeal.

"I don't think we can prejudge it. He (Justice Brooke) has made his decision but we don't know why."

Lloyd's welcomed the ruling, but chairman, Mr David Rowland, said he was sorry Names were once again footing the bill for what he described as a futile action.

PNAG has spent several months trying to persuade Mr Rowland to change the terms of the recovery plan, which includes a £3.2 billion offer to Names for softening the cost of Equitas.

But its leaders have failed to win a better deal.

"We have stressed many times that the offer is in its final form and members must now decide on that basis," said Mr Rowland.

If PNAG chooses to appeal the judgment, it could be back in court next week.

While the strength of the ruling cannot be denied, an appeal would leave an air of uncertainty hanging over the recovery proposals.

There is little time left for Names to decide whether to accept or reject the so called Reconstruction and Renewal plan.

For some the decision has been complicated further by errors in detailed financial information they have received.

Lloyd's will early next week send nearly 1,000 Names revised Equitas bills after errors were identified in data detailing the impact of so called personal stop loss policies they took out.