Jaguar dismisses closure talk

Browns Lane is the oldest of the three UK Jaguar plants

A report that Coventry's Jaguar plant could close with the loss of more than 1,500 jobs is being dismissed by its parent company Ford.

A story in a Sunday newspaper said that the US car giant wants to cut its costs by shutting the Browns Lane plant, where Jaguars have been made for half a century.

The Sunday Times article featured industry sources who said the factory could not continue in its present form and that options for its future were being drawn up.

A Jaguar spokesman said it was not policy to comment on rumours and added the company was working hard to make all plants as productive as possible.

'No truth'

The Sunday Time report said several options were under consideration, from reducing the size of operations in Coventry to complete closure.

Two models - the XJ saloon and the XK sports car - are made at Browns Lane, which is the oldest Jaguar plant.

Ford bought Jaguar in 1990 for £1.6bn and also has factories at Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands and Halewood, near Liverpool.

Duncan Simpson, a spokesman for Amicus, said: "I spoke to very senior management and they told me there's no truth in that speculation.

"We met with very senior management only two or three weeks ago, as we do periodically, and there was no indication whatsoever that Browns Lane or any other plant will close."