The BBC is among several British pension funds which lost millions of pounds on their investments in US carmaker Tesla last week.

Shares in Elon Musk's electric car firm slammed further into reverse, taking total losses this year to nearly 40 per cent and leaving the company's valuation at $33.7 billion (£26.5 billion).

Analysts at Morgan Stanley warned the price – currently $190 – could crash to just $10 amid concerns about its debt pile and a fall in demand from China.

Debt pile-up: Elon Musk's electric car firm Tesla made a $700 million loss

Tesla reported a worse-than-expected loss of $700 million for the first three months of 2019 thanks in part to weak sales.

The BBC pension fund's shareholding in Tesla is one of its largest equity investments and was worth £27 million at the end of March last year.

That stake is now likely to be worth up to £9 million – or a third – less. The BBC's pension fund, worth £16.6 billion at the end of March last year, also has stakes in a number of US tech companies including Amazon, Google-owner Alphabet and Facebook.

Other British funds are also exposed to Tesla's recent woes. The hardest hit has been Baillie Gifford.

The Edinburgh-based investment trust is Tesla's largest shareholder after eccentric founder and chief executive Elon Musk, with a stake worth $2.6 billion (£2 billion). Others include Legal & General, Royal London and Aviva.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas dropped his worst case scenario for Tesla's shares from $97 to $10, suggesting the company could suffer because of the trade war between the US and China.

There is some hope however as a leaked memo on Thursday from Musk to staff appeared to show strong sales of its cars.