Following an extraordinary general meeting today, Universal Salvage said shareholders had universally accepted the Copart bid.

The recommended cash offer has not been disclosed by either party but Universal Salvage has a current market capitalisation of £55.84m.

Copart, one of the largest salvage companies in the world with a valuation of around $2.8bn, is a provider of salvage vehicle sales services in the United States and also operates a sizeable automotive auction business.

The acquisition will hand the US firm a significant part of the UK's vehicle salvage market as Universal Salvage is the biggest operator.

After a troubled period the company returned to profit last year, recording pre-tax profits of £900,000 on a turnover of £32.6m.