Four Brazilian municipalities joined in litigation pursuing BHP for £18 billion ($36 billion) in the British courts have quit the high-profile class action related to the Samarco dam disaster that killed 19 people and destroyed towns and infrastructure in Brazil.

The exit of the municipalities – Sobralia, Corrego Novo, Sao Mateus and Conceicao da Barra – comes less than eight weeks since BHP and its Samarco partners struck an alternative $US31.7 billion ($50 billion) compensation deal with the Brazilian government.