At least five financial firms - Numis, Peel Hunt, Citi, HSBC and Santander - were standing behind the Kier rights issue.

This means Kier gets the £250m even though shareholders refused to back the cash call.

But it means those firms are left with shares they did not intend to hold.

Haydn Mursell, Chief Executive of Kier, said: "Following the completion of the £250m rights issue, Kier enters 2019 with a strong balance sheet which puts us in an excellent competitive position."