The event has been moved from the football ground

Unions had condemned the arena launch by Coventry dealership Darwin saying it was "rubbing people's noses in it".

In April, Peugeot announced the closure of its Ryton plant, near Coventry, with the loss of 2,300 jobs.

A spokesman for Darwin said its decision to move Thursday's event was down to a combination of factors and not "people pressure".

Peter Haines, general manager of Darwin Motors, said the launch would now be held at the dealership.

'Emotional involvement'

"We are better able to serve our customers at the dealership than we would be at an external venue. It is easier for us to have it here than off site.

"Obviously there has been a lot of media interest in Peugeot and there is a lot of emotional involvement amongst people in Coventry and we would not want to be seen to be fuelling that. We don't want to alienate people."

A spokesman for the Transport and General Workers' Union said he understood there had been complaints to the arena owners over the launch.

"Local union leaders have reported many people expressing their anger that Peugeot, who are planning to pull out of the area in favour of a move to Slovakia, are "rubbing people's noses in it" by wanting to use the Ricoh Arena," he said.

He said pressure by local people was behind the cancellation of the arena launch.

An arena spokesman said: "I can confirm we received a booking request from a Coventry car dealership which has was later withdrawn."