Unions are seeking urgent talks with executives at car giant Peugeot following the firm's announcement it is to axe 850 jobs at its main UK factory under plans to end a production shift.

Peugeot said it would do everything it could to minimise the impact of the cuts at its Ryton, Coventry site, which employs around 2,800 workers.

A shift which runs from Friday to Sunday is to be axed in the summer as the French-owned company moves to adjust its output to market demand. Ryton produces the Peugeot 206, and last year built around 180,000 cars.

A spokeswoman for the Transport and General Workers' Union said many of the jobs would be shed through voluntary redundancies and contracts not being renewed.