Concern over 184 motorsport jobs

Mr Richards said the company was facing tough times

More than 180 workers could lose their jobs at the Prodrive motorsports company in Banbury, it has emerged.

The company is a partner of Subaru and managed the Subaru World Rally Team, which announced it was pulling out of next year's championship.

The move has put 184 jobs at the company under threat, however, Prodrive said every measure was being taken to keep redundancies to a minimum.

The company has now begun a 90-day redundancy consultation process.

"Subaru's sudden decision to withdraw from the World Rally Championship was a shock to us all and was in a direct response to the dramatic downturn affecting the global motor industry," said Prodrive chairman David Richards.

"Despite the loss of the World Rally programme, our overall position remains strong.

"We have long-term racing programmes in the UK and Australia, and our automotive engineering business, which represents 60% of our turnover, is expanding its work with vehicle manufacturers on future technologies."