NISSAN chief executive Carlos Ghosn has given the clearest indication to date that the fate of 1,500 jobs rests on Britain's entry to the euro.

The Brazilian boss said there were "too many risks" for Nissan's operations if the company was forced to trade in pounds and euros.

The words echoed a thinly-veiled threat by Mr Ghosn to Prime Minister Tony Blair that he would have to embrace the single currency to enable Nissan's Sunderland plant to win the contract for the new Almera.

Speaking last November, he said: "We don't want the benefits, or the risk, of the exchange rate."

Factory workers and management at the plant had hoped that the currency would not be an overriding issue when it came to awarding the new model production, but Mr Ghosn yesterday put a nail in that coffin.

He told French financial daily Les Echos that Britain's entry to the single currency was vital.

He said: "If the signs are clear and reassuring, we will reinvest in Sunderland. If there are too many risks, we will go elsewhere.

"We want our main cost base in Europe to be in the same currency as our receipts."

Davey Hall, regional secretary of engineering union Amicus, said: "This will cause great anxiety to our members in the Nissan plant."

Recent Downing Street noises suggest Mr Blair could be some way off putting the euro to a referendum.

The Prime Minister came under attack yesterday from close friend and supporter Peter Mandelson for abandoning his own beliefs on the importance of the euro.

Hartlepool MP Mr Mandelson told Radio 4's Today programme: "I remember Tony Blair always arguing before we came into office in 1997 that if the single currency got off the ground, the eurozone area would define the political core of Europe, and that Britain could not remain outside indefinitely without sacrificing vital political influence across a range of European policies, as well as sacrificing economic and trade benefits of being in the same currency as others."

Although the Sunderland factory is the most productive plant in Europe, supporters of the Euro claim the cars it makes are still too expensive because of the strength of stirling.

A total of 4,500 workers are employed there, making Micras, Almeras and Primeras. About 1,500 jobs will be in jeopardy if the Japanese manufacturer decides to move production elsewhere.

The decision on the contract will be made towards the end of this year.

A spokesman for Nissan's Sunderland plant said: "The euro is a very important factor but it certainly isn't the be all and end all."