Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has revealed that production at two of its UK manufacturing plants is to be suspended due to a shortage of parts.

The company said operations at the Castle Bromwich (Birmingham) and Halewood (Liverpool) sites would be affected through a "limited period" of non-production from next Monday.

It blamed a Covid-19 crisis issue of semi-conductor shortages, widely flagged by the industry as a whole and blamed for disruption to schedules among rivals and at other firms which rely on computer chips.

JLR - which has the UK's largest car manufacturing operation - said it was unclear how long the stoppages would last but it insisted production at the Solihull plant would continue as normal.Advertisement

Its statement said: "Like other automotive manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some Covid-19 supply chain disruption, including the global availability of semi-conductors, which is having an impact on our production schedules and our ability to meet global demand for some of our vehicles.

"As a result, we have adjusted production schedules for certain vehicles which means that our Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants will be operating a limited period of non-production from Monday 26th April.

"Manufacturing continues at our Solihull plant.

"We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the impact on customer orders wherever possible."

The shortage of computer chips has been blamed on a perfect storm for manufacturers and users globally.

Production, therefore shipping, has been hugely disrupted by the coronavirus crisis at a time when demand has never been higher.

Honda, which is closing its Swindon plant, is among UK manufacturers to have blamed the shortage of parts for production delays, while Renault admitted earlier on Thursday that its sales were being affected by the semi-conductor issue.