Thousands of British property investors that were left high and dry by bankrupt developers in Spain have been given fresh hope of getting their money back, as new figures suggest a £5.3bn pot of cash is now up for grabs.

The findings, released by specialist legal service Spanish Legal Reclaims in conjunction with CEBR (The Centre for Economics & Business Research), suggest that Spanish banks still owe money to approximately 130,000 British property buyers who suffered loses, with expected pay-outs ranging from £10,000 to £500,000 per buyer.

While earlier estimates put the bill facing Spanish banks at around £2bn, this has more than doubled lately as more buyers emerge and more cases are being won.

Buyers can get their money back plus interest, thanks to a landmark ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court that declared the banks, which were meant to safeguard buyers’ money, are now obliged to repay deposits put down on off-plan developments in Spain if the developer went bankrupt.