AS someone who grew up around the corner from the Nissan factory, I know just how important it is to the region.

With the news that the plant is not sustainable in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it beggars belief that this Government is not going to ask for an extension to the transition period.

This increases the risk of a no-deal Brexit and thus Nissan leaving our region, taking its 7,000 jobs with it (and thousands more if you include the supply chain).

Whichever way you voted in the EU referendum, it was probably not for this scenario.

In the middle of a pandemic, it is utter madness not to extend to prevent such a no-deal scenario.

The North-East is currently the worst affected by Covid-19 and will soon be the worst affected by a no-deal Brexit too. Please let us not revisit our economic disaster of the pit-closure past and extend the transition period to save the region from ruin.

Louise Brown, Gateshead