THE chance of breaking the deadlock between Jaguar and the Government over a £340m rescue loan are now just 50-50, a government minister warned last night.

Phil Woolas, Minister for the North West, said it was a “very serious situation”.

He said Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which employs 2,000 at its Halewood factory, needed to make clear its plans within a “matter of days”.

It comes just a day after the Daily Post revealed new evidence of the strained relationship between the government and Tata.

The car giant told ministers it had no plans to axe jobs – just five days before the announcement there would be 300 redundancies.

Last night, a source claimed Tata had had to wait for months for a “sensible” proposal on the loan deal.

Mr Woolas last night blamed a “lack of clarity” from Tata about its plans for holding up negotiations.

“The truth is we don’t know at this point in time what the company’s plans are,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the new model can be built and be a terrific opportunity.

“The fact is we have got the skills base to do that.

“We stand willing to help, but we need to know what the plan is.

“We need clarity around the business plan and understand that has to be in confidence for competition reasons.

“But we need it, not just from the point of workers’ reassurance, but also from the point of view of financial planning.

“We need it as soon as possible, and by that I mean days.”

When asked how confident he was a solution could be found he said: “Being honest, it’s 50-50; I think it’s a very serious situation.”

Last night, Tata reiterated that discussions were ongoing and that the company hopes that progress will be made.

The company owned by Tata Motors, headed by Ratan Tata, has waged a media campaign, accusing the Government of demanding a hands-on role in the running of the company in return for the loan guarantees.

Mr Woolas’s intervention is likely to be seen as political posturing by Tata, while the Government has become increasingly frustrated at what it feels are attempts to force its hand.

Last week, Lord Mandelson told the Daily Post he would not allow Jaguar to go broke and said the company had not reached the point of asking for direct government aid.