Rover is offering to switch workers from a doomed car component plant in South Wales to Cowley.

Forty-four workers, including some with disabilities, will lose their jobs when the Bargoed factory shuts next month, despite a campaign by politicians and unions to keep it open.

Former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies and MEP Glenys Kinnock visited the plant in February to discuss ways of saving it.

But a company spokesman said it was closing because of changes in the firm's "strategic requirements".

The plant makes light pressings for the Mini and other vehicles.

Workers will be given up to about £30,000 as a redundancy pay-off, plus a low mileage Rover 400 car worth about £7,500. Alternatively, the company will relocate workers from South Wales and employ them in its Oxford factory, which is gearing up to produce the crucial new Rover 75 luxury saloon car.

A Rover spokesman said: "The decision reflects the strategic requirements of the company. It's not a reflection on the quality of the workforce, which has been excellent over the years."

The news comes as workers at Rover's troubled Longbridge plant wait to hear whether they will be building a new family car.

The company's German bosses are to decide in two weeks whether a new family car will be made there.

Chariman Werner Samann promised today to boost the ailing company's performance with new products and better productivity.

Rover will target the crucial small family car market by launching revised versions of its slow-selling 200 and 400 models later this year. Prof Samann said the revisions, codenamed Jewel and Oyster, would be more than facelifts, with major changes such as new axles and suspension.

He said he was convinced Rover had the backing of its German owners, BMW, to remain a full-range car maker.

But the decision on whether the new models will be built at Longbridge is not expected until BMW's board meets later this month.

Reports say Longbridge will be vying with a site in Hungary.

Meanwhile, rival car maker Porsche has threatened to complain to the European Commission if £200m government aid is given to BMW to help rescue Longbridge.

Story date: Wednesday 10 March

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.