The minister also took a swipe at the leadership of the Unite union accusing officials of "misrepresenting" the Government’s position and creating "needless fears" among the workers.

Unite’s joint leader Tony Woodley repeated his veiled criticism of the Government’s efforts today saying he would feel more confident about the future of the two UK plants if ministers had been sitting at the negotiating table.

The Merseyside-born union boss and former Ellesmere Port worker said: "We need Mr Mandelson to bat strongly to make sure that Luton and Ellesmere Port have a long-term future."

Mr Woodley said he hoped the business secretary understood the sacrifices already made in the UK, including the loss of carmaking in Luton and shift cutbacks in Ellesmere Port.

At Ellesmere Port today, dad-of-two Dave Longshaw, 43, who has worked for Vauxhall for more than 20 years, said: "Of course people are concerned.

"People think we are lucky because we have the production of the new Astra but this is bigger than one car.

"I think we are very lucky to have the new Astra and it is an ace in the hand but I think there could be job losses in the next couple of years.

"There has been uncertainty for four or five months and I think that will continue for another month."

A 50-year-old man, who asked not to be named, said: "It seems that the German government are looking after the German people and I don’t feel enough is being done to safeguard our jobs in the UK.

"People will be worried. We are about to launch a new car but what do you do, do you launch it? I’m just concerned."

Meanwhile, thousands of Honda car workers returned to the production line today after a four-month shutdown.

The factory in Swindon, Wiltshire, resumed business this morning but the 3,400 workers and management staff returned for lower wages and will be producing far fewer cars this year.