Government help for the car industry will be capped at £250m per company, it has emerged since its bail-out offer.

The limit will be a heavy blow to Jaguar Land Rover which is believed to be seeking access to £1b in bridging loans, reported The Times.

Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said the government provision would impose the upper limit of £250m and a lower limit of £5m.

The long-awaited package includes a scheme to unlock £1.3billion of loans from the EU for car manufacturers and major suppliers while UK government will fund a further £1billion of loans to invest in eco-friendly vehicles such as hybrids and plug-in cars.