Plans for electric car battery factory in St Athan moved from Wales to England
Plans for an electric car battery factory to be built in the Vale of Glamorgan have been scrapped as the company confirms the site will be situated in Northumberland instead.
Britishvolt said in June this year that St Athan was its "preferred" location but have now announced that the £2.6 billion plant will be based in England instead.
There were hopes the factory would create thousands of Welsh jobs after the company said it had signed an agreement with the Welsh Government to work together on plans to develop a battery manufacturing plant and solar plant.
It comes days after Ineos confirmed its new 4x4 cars would be built in France, ending hopes that production would take place in Bridgend.
Britishvolt announced on December 11 that it will base its electric car battery factory in Blyth, Northumberland at a former coal-burning power station site.
The firm had previously said it would employ around 3,500 Welsh people if the factory was built in St Athan on the Bro Tathan industrial estate. The company had also said it could bring £1.2 billion of investment to south Wales.
Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari said Blyth was chosen as it is a renewable energy centre with good transport links and is beside a deep-water port.
The news that the project will now be built in Northumberland will be welcomed by the region - reportedly representing the biggest investment in the North East of England since Nissan arrived in 1984.
For Wales, it represents the latest knock to manufacturing in south Wales after the news that Ineos would base production of its new vehicle in France and the closure of Ford's Bridgend plant in September.