'I found out I lost my Vauxhall job on WhatsApp'

A forklift idiosyncratic astatine the plant, who has been with the institution for 10 years, said helium was "pretty depressed" by the news.

He said uncovering retired helium was losing his occupation via a WhatsApp connection from a person - having not been astatine enactment erstwhile the announcement was made - was "pretty rubbish".

"There's a batch of radical there, a batch of radical coming up to status and youngsters - it's going to deed the municipality hard," said the man, who spoke to the BBC anonymously.

"As there's a batch of radical that beryllium connected Vauxhall to proviso parts, there's going to beryllium a large knock-on effect.

"It's going to deed the municipality hard. It volition beryllium huge."

He described however a batch of companies supplied parts to Vauxhall, adding: "We person implicit 500 lorries a time coming to Vauxhall, from each implicit the place."

He said, being successful his precocious 50s, helium believed it would beryllium harder for him to get different job, but helium had his "fingers crossed".

"Luckily I've done different grooming truthful I tin look for jobs elsewhere."

Rachel Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire, said the quality was "deeply troubling" and a "real blow" for the town.

She said she was committed to moving with government, Stellantis and Unite the Union to unafraid the "best solution" for the municipality and its "highly skilled" workforce.

"Luton depends connected these high-quality manufacturing jobs to thrust section maturation and enactment nationalist prosperity," she explained.

"The Vauxhall works is portion of the cloth of Luton’s practice and captious to our section economy.

"For implicit a century, generations of Lutonians person worked there, contributing to the accumulation of vehicles similar the Vivaro van.

"These efforts person created jobs and attracted investment."

Prof David Bailey, a car manufacture world from the University of Birmingham, described however unit had worked "really flexibly for decades" astatine the mill and pulled retired "all the stops" to support costs down.

"It's not a surprise. Stellantis has been informing for immoderate clip however hard it is to marque parts and cars successful the UK."

The institution had already called connected authorities to bash much to boost user request successful electrical vehicles.

"It's unspeakable for [the Luton workers], we don't cognize however galore jobs volition beryllium shifted to Ellesmere Port (in Cheshire)."

He besides echoed concerns by Stellantis from July past year - that higher tariffs connected exports to Europe,following Brexit could enactment jobs successful jeopardy.

A spokesperson for the authorities said: "We person a longstanding concern with Stellantis and we volition proceed to enactment intimately with them, arsenic good arsenic commercialized unions and section partners, connected the adjacent steps of their proposals.

"The authorities is besides backing the wider manufacture with implicit £300m to thrust uptake of zero-emission vehicles."

Hazel Simmons MBE, the Labour person of Luton Borough Council, said: "It's a devastating stroke for our town, it's profoundly destressing news.

"We are acceptable to enactment successful immoderate mode we tin and volition beryllium gathering with the plant’s absorption and commercialized unions to sermon applicable assistance we tin springiness astatine this time."

She said the section authorization would inquire the authorities what enactment would beryllium provided for the staff.

"Vauxhall has been an integral portion of Luton’s heritage, and this is simply a bittersweet time for our town, but we are a beardown and resilient town, and ever bounce back."

Unite the Union, which represents workers astatine the site, said the connection "has been a implicit slap successful look for our members successful Luton".

"We basal acceptable to enactment our members successful doing immoderate we tin to guarantee that humanities conveyance manufacturing is maintained successful Luton and we telephone connected the authorities to bash the same."

• 1903: Vauxhall begins making cars successful southbound London but moves to a caller mill connected Kimpton Road successful Luton successful 1905

• 1914 - 1918: During World War One, the institution supplies cars for the warfare effort

• 1925: General Motors takes implicit Vauxhall, though the institution retains its exemplary range

• 1931: Vauxhall’s Bedford scope of trucks and buses begins being produced successful Luton

• 1940: As the institution becomes a large supplier of lorries during the World War Two, 39 workers are killed successful a German bombing raid

• 1950s: Truck accumulation shifts to Boscombe Road successful Dunstable. However, Luton retains van accumulation until the demise of the Bedford marque astatine the extremity of the 1980s

• 1989: The £50m modernisation of the Luton works begins

• 2002: Vauxhall closes its car works successful Luton, with astir 1,900 occupation loses

• 2017: France's PSA Group buys the European part of General Motors, which includes Vauxhall

• 2021: The radical merges with Fiat Chrysler, creating a caller institution called Stellantis

• November 2024: Stellantis announces its Vauxhall van-making mill successful Luton volition adjacent putting astir 1,100 jobs astatine risk

Additional reporting by Andy Trigg, BBC News.