Workers have been suspended at a Jaguar factory on Merseyside following the discovery of so-called "inappropriate material" on the company's internal e-mail system.

A spokesman for the former Ford Halewood plant confirmed 11 people had been suspended and were facing dismissal as a result of an internal inquiry.

A total of 30 people at the plant, which produces the new X-Type model or "Baby Jag", are under investigation.

Halewood spokesman David Crisp said: "We have discovered the distribution of inappropriate material on our internal e-mail system.

Previous warnings

"It is something, obviously, that Jaguar will not tolerate and we have issued warnings about such action in the past.

"At the moment we have 30 people who are under investigation, 11 of whom are facing dismissal, obviously, pending an appeal.

"Of the 30, it is a mixture of Jaguar employees and contract staff on site,"

The e-mail only came to light when it was mistakenly forwarded to Jaguar's parent company Ford, in the United States.

The Halewood spokesman declined to say whether the e-mail was pornographic.

He said the suspended workers plan to appeal against disciplinary action.