London - The British government is to announce later today it will accept damages of $35 million from accountancy firm Arthur Andersen over the De Lorean sports car scandal, the Financial Times has reported. The paper said the move, which would end a 12-year legal battle, avoids a lengthy trial due to begin in New York next year between the British government and the firm which audited the failed car company's accounts. Arthur Andersen faced a claim for damages believed to exceed $300 million. The Belfast-based De Lorean company collapsed in 1982, four years after the British government began pouring £77 million of public funds into it.