Production at Vauxhall's main UK factory resumed today after workers ended the unofficial strike that had brought it to a halt.

No Astra cars or vans were built at the Ellesmere Port site in Merseyside because of yesterday's wildcat action.

Up to 3,000 workers were involved in the walkout, which followed comments by a European official from the car giant's parent company, General Motors, about the prospect of job losses in the UK.

Carl-Peter Forster, the president of GM Europe, said GM had proposed cutting posts at the plant. He added that suggestions by unions that the production cuts be spread over other GM plants in Europe were "not super-attractive".

Unions fear the company is planning to axe one of the three shifts at Ellesmere Port, resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs.

Strike action spread through the plant after workers took the comments to mean that GM had already decided to cut the posts.

Union leaders have been talking with the company about ways of spreading any job losses across Europe, and talks between the two sides will continue today.

Any British job losses would follow last month's decision by PSA Peugeot Citroen to close its central England plant next year with the loss of 2,300 jobs, and the collapse of MG Rover, which resulted in 6,000 job losses last year.