THE V6 engine plant at Vauxhall Motors is to close in July.

But plant bosses have assured the 175 workers affected that their jobs will be safe, with all of them transferring to the adjacent car factory.

The closure announcement comes three weeks after union leaders visited the plant for crunch talks with management.

Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, was seeking assurances about the long-term future of V6 production and press unit at the plant.

But bosses at Fiat GM Powertrain, a joint venture to build the engines between Vauxhall's parent company General Motors and Fiat, said they could give no guarantees.

There was no formal announcement of the move but last week Vauxhall Motors spokesman David Crundwell confirmed: 'We will be building our last engines at the plant in July due to the lack of customer orders.

'However, this situation has been known about since February last year and all the 175 staff will be transferred to the car plant which is doing extremely well.'

Amicus union spokesman Phil Alman said: 'It is a sad day for Ellesmere Port because another string to our bow has gone.

'In the past eight months the workforce at the V6 plant has gradually declined. And in the past year it has gone from producing 4,000 units a week to just 500.

'But the sad fact is that there are no customers out there.'

Ellesmere Port Labour MP Andrew Miller said: 'I have expressed my disappointment to the company following their decision to bring forward the closure of the V6 plant.

'I will be taking every opportunity to press General Motors for continued investment in highly-skilled jobs in Ellesmere Port in the future and I have already spoken to officials in the Department of Trade and Industry.'

Borough council leader Fred Venables said: 'We are disappointed to hear that the plant is to close but recognise that this is a commercial decision based on changing market conditions.

'However, it is good news that the workers will be transferring to the Vauxhall production line and we under-stand that all 175 have been reassured that they have a future with the company.'

The plant opened in November 1992 following an investment of £200m and by 1999 it had achieved a record output of 111,000 engines.

In October 2002 union leaders from Amicus first expressed fears about the long-term future of the plant.

Reports that V6 production will be moved to Canada have been denied by Vauxhall Motors.