The closure of the Vauxhall plant in Luton will cost the town a total of about 3,700 jobs and have a £310m impact on the local area's economy, a council leader told BBC Politics East. On Tuesday, Stellantis, the owner of Vauxhall announced plans to close its Bedfordshire van-making factory, putting about 1,100 jobs at the plant at risk.

Labour minister Jonathan Reynolds told the Commons that Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Stellantis, which owns Vauxhall, had said he felt "extremely frustrated" by the lack of action from the previous Conservative government which meant "his desire was to close the Luton plant".

Stellantis plans to shut its Vauxhall van factory in England, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk as it joins rival automakers in scaling back operations in a difficult trading environment.