NISSAN says it expects to continue posting record-breaking production levels after work fully restarted at its Sunderland plant.

Bosses have confirmed its factory is running normally again.

The site was forced into a temporary shutdown last month after problems in its press shop, which makes body parts, and maintenance work taking longer than expected.

However, production started again last week on Line One, which makes the Qashqai and all-electric Leaf, with Line Two, where the Juke and Note models are made, resuming this week.

The halt in work is believed to be the biggest unplanned shut-down in the plant’s 30-year history.

The company expects to make 500,000 cars in Sunderland for a third consecutive year, which will be another record for the UK car industry, and despite the delays, a spokesman told The Northern Echo it would make up the lost time.

He said: “It was a disruption to the production schedule.

“However, as with any such problem, we would expect to recover from it, though there won’t be any changes to shift patterns.”

He added that despite the delays some of the company’s other departments had managed to work as normal, such as production of electric vehicle batteries and cylinder heads.

Nissan’s Sunderland factory sees up to 2,000 cars roll off its production line every day, and makes more vehicles in a year than the entire Italian car industry.

However, the Japanese company has declined to reveal the cost of the interruption on its work.

But bosses have confirmed progress to get the plant ready for the launch of another new North-East model is going according to plan.

Production will start next year on the Infiniti marque, which is Nissan’s luxurious brand.

The firm has added 2,000 people to its regional workforce in the last two years to support £1bn new model investment programme and deliver record sales in Europe.