THE Prime Minister vowed to “protect” Ellesmere Port’s Vauxhall plant in motor giant Fiat’s fight to buy the business from US parent General Motors .

And Gordon Brown pledged to support the UK car industry as a whole in its desperate bid to survive tumbling car sales as the recession worsens.

Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne launched a weekend bid to buy the European arm of GM, including Vauxhall which employs 5,000 staff at two sites in Ellesmere Port and Luton.

But German auto union leader Klaus Franz warned any merger of GM Europe and Fiat would inevitably result in plant closures in Europe and the UK, costing 10,000 jobs.

Luton MP Kelvin Hopkins called on the Prime Minister to do everything he could to ensure the two UK sites remain open. Speaking during PM’s Question Time, Mr Brown said: “We are in regular talks with every one of the major car companies in Britain.

“We are determined to protect our Ellesmere Port and Luton operations of General Motors. We are also determined to help Jaguar Land Rover and all the other companies that exist in our country. Where we have had requests, we have been prepared to consider and in many cases take the action that is necessary.”