On Tuesday, First Secretary Rhodri Morgan said up to 1,000 jobs may be lost in Wales following BMW's decision to break-up the Rover group.

In an answer to an emergency question in the Welsh Assembly, Mr Morgan said that the Welsh Development Agency had calculated there may be a loss of 1,000 jobs from car component suppliers in Wales.

They have placed the blame squarely on BMW's decision to dispose of the Longbridge works in Birmingham.

But the long-term viability of the factory - which produces pressings and assembly work for the motor industry - is not believed to be under threat.

Llanelli MP Denzil Davies has written to Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy calling on him to alert the Department of Trade and Industry to the plight of independent component suppliers such as Thyssen Krupp Automotive.

He has also written to Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers.

Impact

The company has refused to comment, but discussions with management over the proposed job losses are continuing.

Earlier this week Plaid Cymru's economic spokesman Dr Phil Williams called on the interests of Welsh automotive suppliers to be fully represented on the government task force set up to deal with the impact of the cutbacks at the Longbridge plant.

"A number of Welsh companies still supply the Longbridge plant, and it is essential that their interests are not ignored by the task force", said Dr Williams in a letter to Trade and Industry Secretary, Stephen Byers.

But Garel Rhys, Professor of Motor Industry Economics at the Cardiff Business School, had believed the job fears to be exaggerated.

"I think we have to wait for hard facts," he said.

Element

"The thing we have to remember is that Wales is much less dependant on Rover than the nation generally and the West Midlands.

"Many, many jobs in Wales are supported by Japanese car-makers, by Vauxhall, by Jaguar and by LDV the van-maker.

"Rover is an element, but by no means the important element that it is for the West Midlands.

"The industry in Wales has - for once - spread its risks."

Rover has confirmed that it has already cut back production at its Cowley and Longbridge plants.

Since Monday, production of the Rover 75 in Cowley near Oxford has been reduced by half, and production of the Rover 25 and 45 in Longbridge has been cut by a fifth.

The cutbacks follow BMW's decision to sell Rover Cars to UK venture capital group Alchemy, who want to rebrand the firm as MG cars and turn it into a middle-volume producer of sports saloons.