The advert uses patriotic imagery Enlarge Image

Amicus and the Transport and General Workers unions have put adverts in national and regional papers and on posters close to Peugeot dealerships.

The firm said it had studied a union plan detailing an alternative to closure but said it was not viable.

The final late shift at the Ryton plant near Coventry finishes on Friday.

Production will be reduced from two shifts to one from next week.

�5m jobs plan

Unions started the boycott campaign last month following the decision to close the Ryton plant in Warwickshire next year with the loss of 2,300 jobs.

Peugeot Citroen vice-president Jean Marc Nicolle said on Friday the firm had consulted fully with unions and was now committed to helping workers find alternative work - giving �5m to help them do so.

"We remain firmly committed to that process and in ensuring that none of our people would be left to face the future alone," he said.

He also said Peugeot was opposed to the principle of the boycott and did not believe it would be successful.

Workers voted against strike action, he said, and he was sure unions did not have a mandate for the boycott.

The adverts feature a dejected Peugeot worker being comforted by his wife but surrounded by English football flags.

The firm plans to move production of the 206 to France and start work on a new 207 plant in Slovakia.