A leading trade union has warned strike action at the Nissan car plant in Sunderland is "dangerously close" in a dispute over pay.

A stoppage by workers at the Japanese car giant's factory would be the first in its 19-year-history.

Trade union Amicus claims pay talks between management and the workers have broken down.

But Nissan managing director John Cushnaghan said in a statement he was "surprised and disappointed" at the response by Amicus, and called it "alarmist".

Final offer

The union claims the company's works council will present a two-year pay offer, worth 3% in each year, to the employees on Tuesday without a recommendation.

But Nissan says discussions are still ongoing and no decision has yet been made as to the next step.

Nissan pay is currently par for the industry, but recent deals have varied widely with Rover settling at 1.5%, while Land Rover and Jaguar agreed a 9% deal over two years.

Davey Hall, Amicus regional secretary, said: "If the workforce rejects the final offer we will be obliged to ballot our members for industrial action."

The union said it was concerned that a deal it signed with Nissan in the 1980s was not working in the interests of workers or the company.

It represents 797 workers at the Sunderland site out of a total workforce of 4672.

Ongoing talks

Amicus joint general secretary Derek Simpson said: "If Amicus had been involved from the start, we should have been able to resolve the pay talks before we got into this mess."

Nissan said all the shop stewards at the Sunderland plant were members of the company's works council and it was up to that body to invite a full-time official from Amicus to any talks.

Mr Cushnaghan said: "Nissan regrets the alarmist and very public stance taken by Amicus.

"These negotiations are still in progress and we believe the interests of all our employees will be best served by continuing to discuss the issues internally."

The Sunderland factory opened in the mid 1980s and currently produces around 300,000 Micra, Almera and Primera models a year.