COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Jaguar Land Rover has struck a deal to sell the closure-threatened veneer manufacturing plant in Coventry.

The site at Browns Lane is to be bought by Lawrence Automotive Interiors of Nottingham, which has pledged to invest in it.

The plant employs 390 people who will be given the chance to join the new firm or stay with Jaguar Land Rover.

The car manufacturer's parent company Tata announced last September it wanted to close the plant.

Neither Jaguar Land Rover or Lawrence would comment - completion of the deal is still some months away as the due diligence process is still taking place.

'A long time'

But Coventry North West MP Geoffrey Robinson, in whose constituency the plant sits, said he had been told by Jaguar Land Rover bosses that Lawrence were committed to Browns Lane for at least five years.

He said: "Five years is a long time. I don't think it's reasonable to ask for a bigger commitment than that at this stage."

Lawrence has its head office in the UK, with a manufacturing plant in China and regional offices in France and America.

It supplies trim components to the car industry around the world.

Jaguar Land Rover employs about 5,000 workers in Solihull, 2,000 in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, and 1,800 at Halewood, in Merseyside.