Stadco is to close its Coventry plant, which supplies the body shell for the MG TF sports car and other pressings, with the loss of 200 engineering jobs.

The company, which produced body panels and other parts for Rover models, said that the Coventry factory was ‘unsustainable’ following Rover's collapse.

Stadco said it would try to find work for the affected employees elsewhere in the company. "We have been hoping that something would emerge from the ashes of MG Rover but it is now clear that nothing substantial will," says Andrew Morris, Stadco's managing director.

Stadco manufactures body panels for customers including Ford, Jaguar, BMW, Land Rover, Peugeot, VW and Aston Martin. It has six other sites besides Coventry in the UK, and two in Germany.