One of Coventry' most historic firms has announced it is to move premises but has declared its commitment to keeping its base in the city.

LTI Carbodies denies the move is connected to yesterday's news of large-scale redundancies but it will boost flagging morale in the Coventry industry.

Carbodies human resources director Trevor Power is confident the company will remain in the city. He said:

"We are looking for new sites but the only place we have looked is in Coventry, because that is what we would prefer.

"This is not connected to the redundancies and it is a long-term move. The key thing for us is that our current property is fairly old and has quite a few maintenance problems including things like leaking roofs.

"We are looking for premises similar in size to our existing one, which will allow us to lay the site out effectively and grow or shrink the company depending on the situation"

Carbodies current Holyhead Road site may become an extension of the adjacent Alvis retail park after LTI head office applied for retail planning permission for the land.

Power believes this sale would give the company a massive boost.

He said:

"Obviously that kind of deal would generate money and we would look to use that to renovate a new factory and produce an ideal working environment for staff.

"Then when the company was fit and healthy we would be in a position to take advantage when things pick up."