Workers at the plant are unclear about its prospects

By Andrew Dawkins BBC News, at Longbridge

Some of the 6,000 staff painted images of people sitting around not working in a subdued atmosphere as details of the company's problems sunk in.

A 33-year-old married father-of-two, who started working there straight from school, summed up the fears of staff trickling away at lunchtime.

The man, a spot welder, said: "I've got two little babies. How am I going to survive? We're dead and buried.

'Closure heartbreaking'

"We've bent over backwards for (the company), we've done everything they've asked and taken a pittance in pay rises over the five years (since the earlier Rover crisis).

"They've done their best but we knew five years ago that we needed a new (model). Yes, they've revamped them but they're too old.

"Now the government is giving �40m to the suppliers but what are they doing for us?" Shop steward Philip Moran, 46, who has been there for 17 years, echoed some of those themes as he emerged from a morning meeting following his night shift.

He said: "There was no pay rise last year in November and no-one's complained.

Joseph Hanna began working at the factory at the age of 15

"We're lucky to have a job - you're not going to get a job that pays like that again."

Mike Hill, 43, said: "We're not sure if we'll be paid. We'll see on Monday."

For those who have served the company for decades, and all their working lives, any potential closure is heartbreaking.

Joseph Hanna was made redundant from MG Rover after 36 years and says closure would devastate the region.

He began working at the factory in his teens and still has friends and family at the plant, seven years after leaving.

Now a security guard, Mr Hanna added: "We said it seven, eight, even 20 years ago - close Longbridge and you will end up with a ghost town.

'Bad memories'

"We don't want to go back to the docks days and mining days where communities and families fell apart because of this issue."

Pete Jones, a designer who joined the firm as an apprentice 31 years ago, said: "The motor industry is very competitive and we're too small.

"We're the same size as Jaguar and Volvo and they have a parent firm.

Pete Jones has worked there for three decades

"When Rover was saved it was a really upbeat place for a couple of years - us against the rest of the world.

"But I think it's been at the back of people's minds for a while.

"Most people feel down - virtually everyone I work with has got a mortgage."

Walter Harrison, 83, who worked at the plant for a quarter of a century, said: "Years ago we said, 'buy British'. But all our industries have gone.

"They're good cars but the world's flooded with cars and they just can't sell them."

As for the impact on the community, a 41-year-old former supplier, who has lived in the Longbridge area all his life, reflected on the situation in a nearby social club.

The father-of-two said: "It used to be packed in here but this area's gone right down, crime has gone up, two banks closed and the land around here is all car parks.