Five assembly plants in South Korea owned by General Motors are being mothballed for two weeks in December.

The shutdown includes plants which assemble the Chevrolet Aveo and Capitiva.

The news broke as GM's shares slumped to a 65-year low yesterday as analysts pondered the carmaker's liquidity following its admission that it could soon run out of cash unless US government support is provided.

Today's Daily Telegraph reports the Unite union leader Tony Woodley, a former Vauxhall employee, saying if GM entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection it have an "immediate effect" on its UK plants at Luton and Ellesmere Port.