MERSEYSIDE union officials were last night due to fly to Germany for a crisis meeting to discuss how to cut costs at General Motors factories across the continent, including the Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port.

It comes after weekend warnings from the car-maker that it would be bankrupt within months unless it got an emergency cash injection from the US government to help it ride out the global financial crisis.

It needs at least £7bn to pay its bills each month and has called off merger talks with Chrysler and was asking the US government for help after using up $6.9bn (£4.4bn) in the third quarter of 2008.

The meeting at GM’s European headquarters in Russelsheim, Germany, which had been scheduled a couple of weeks ago, has now taken on additional importance, with representatives from factories across the continent involved.

Vauxhall union convener John Fetherstone, who was due to fly to Germany last night, said the news that GM was losing money would not come as a surprise to the 2,200 workers at the Ellesmere Port plant as the company has been “haemorrhaging money every year”.

He said he remained optimistic about the future of the plant as it was the second cheapest plant in Europe producing the Vauxhall Astra.

The plant was forced to cease production for 18 days in October and the beginning of November and the factory will also close for at least three extra days over the normal Christmas shutdown, due to a dramatic drop in car sales.

The shutdowns will mean 9,000 fewer vehicles produced at the site which earlier this year had been calling staff in to work extra hours to meet increased demand.

The company cut 900 jobs at the Ellesmere Port site in May, 2006, when it ended the third shift at the car factory.