Martin McColl has been repaid the £2.6m it was fined by the Office of Fair Trading for its alleged involvement in a tobacco cartel.

The OFT fined two tobacco manufacturers and nine retailers, including Martin McColl, a total of £225m in 2010 for “unlawful practices” in price-setting.

However, six of the companies involved fought the OFT’s decision through the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the decision was quashed in December last year.

Although Martin McColl was not involved in the appeal, it had agreed with the OFT that if there was a successful appeal, it would receive its money back. It has now received £2,668,991, plus a “contribution to certain other costs”.

“We are very pleased to have secured the OFT’s agreement to payment of this sum and to have now brought this matter to a conclusion,” said Martin McColl chairman James Lancaster.

The repayment marks another embarrassing climbdown for the OFT. A criminal trial related to its allegations of price-fixing by British Airways collapsed in May 2010.

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