Nick Reilly, the chairman of the motor giant Vauxhall, was booed and jeered by a crowd of angry workers at the doomed Luton plant yesterday.

Some 200 workers had forced their way past security to get into the company's administrative offices after it was announced that the Luton factory is to close with the loss of 2200 jobs. The closure was criticised by Stephen Byers who said that "this would be a bleak Christmas" for the workers affected. The festive decorations in the worker's local cafe matched the black mood - "Happy Christmas" had been rearranged to spell "this crappy sham".

Peugeot has issued a bleak warning of a further threat to the British car industry, saying that a £90 million investment in its Coventry plant is in jeopardy as a result of the "wait and see" approach to the euro.