The general manager of an Exhall factory threatened with closure says its fate is nothing to do with the difficulties at Rover.

More than 350 staff at Key Plastics in Bayton Road, Exhall, were warned yesterday that their jobs were at risk.

The firm supplies injection components to companies in the automotive industry across Europe, including Rover.

Staff were told that the parent company in America has gone into a form of administration called Chapter 11 Protection to protect their creditors from the risk of losing money owed to them.

General Manager David Hargreaves said that contrary to some reports, the problems the company faced were nothing to do with the crisis at Rover.

He said:

"The problems within the company are nothing to do with the issues at Rover.

"The company has been loss-making for a while and the issues that are here are issues that have been around for quite a long time."

Mr Hargreaves added that the future was uncertain for both the factory in Exhall and a smaller plant in Tamworth, which employs 50 people.