JOB losses at a West Midlands car plant are "part of the manufacturing plan", a Business Minister has claimed.

Following Jaguar Land Rover's decision to shift all production of its Discovery model to Slovakia from Solihull, Claire Perry told the Commons that job losses in the town were "concerning" but part of the plan.

Conservative Julian Knight, MP for Solihull, asked how the Government would support economic growth while decreasing emissions during Business questions.

He then said: "As we rightly move towards eliminating the internal combustion engine in all new cars from 2040, does the minister agree with me that in the short to medium term it is important to jobs and growth that we recognise the role of clean, diesel engines, such as those that are in the cars that roll off the production line in my local car plant?"

Ms Perry replied: "(Mr Knight) will know and he rightly champions the incredible employer that is in his constituency, that we are right to move towards eliminating the internal combustion engines from our roads, but we have got to do that in a managed way that makes sure that we preserve those jobs and in particular the investment in clean diesel during the transition to zero-emission vehicles.

"I do know from (Mr Knight's) constituency that there have been some announcements today around job losses which will be concerning, however they are part of the manufacturing plan that has been announced."