THERE will be no bank-style bail-out for Merseyside’s recession-hit car manufacturers, Chancellor Alistair Darling warned yesterday.

Speaking at a Westminster reception, Mr Darling pledged to “judge on their merits” requests for financial help from the likes of Vauxhall and Jaguar Land Rover.

But he sought to play down expectations that the Treasury could step in with multi-million pound rescue packages, which the two companies are reported to have requested.

Instead, Mr Darling stressed there was a “distinction” between the action necessary to prop up the banks, and what could be done to rescue individual companies.

He said: “Maintaining the banking system, so that it is effective and operational, is essential to everything we do. In relation to companies in general, we offer support for investment.”

The comments are likely to disappoint car manufacturers as they came just one day after the US Congress announced a £10bn bail-out of crisis-hit General Motors – Vauxhall’s parent company – Ford and Chrysler.

In Merseyside, Vauxhall, which employs 2,200 at Ellesmere Port, has held talks with the Government, although it denied it had asked for financial guarantees.

It will close on Friday for one month, starting its traditional Christmas stoppage 12 days early due to a dramatic drop in sales.

Meanwhile, Jaguar Land Rover – which employs 2,000 people at its Halewood plant and announced a voluntary redundancy scheme that could cull up to 600 jobs in Merseyside and the West Midlands – has been in talks over a possible £1bn loan.

At Westminster, Mr Darling was asked whether what he described as an “extraordinary situation” could extend to rescuing car makers, in the way that he had bailed out the banks.

But he replied: “I think there is a distinction between the banking system and general support that most people recognise.”

Turning specifically to Vauxhall, he added: “There was a big debate, a couple of years ago, as to whether or not they would get to manufacture the Astra replacement.

“We did a lot to ensure that, through government support, Vauxhall took the decision to manufacture that car there. In relation to other requests we receive, we will judge them on their merits.

“But the main support we can give is the support we give to the economy in general, for example the VAT cut, ensuring that, by putting money into the economy, the slowdown is less painful than it might otherwise be.”