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Automotive firm Nissan has put almost all of its º£½ÇÊÓƵ staff on furlough and suspended production at its Sunderland plant for the rest of the month.

The firm has been on shutdown for the last two weeks after the coronavirus outbreak led to severe disruption to its supply chains and a drop in market demand caused by the Covid-19 emergency.

Now the company - which employs more than 6,000 people at Sunderland and supports thousands more in the regional supply chain - has suspended work at the plant for the whole of April and staff will be placed on the Government furloughing scheme.

Nissan had followed other car makers in shutting down production, including Vauxhall, Peugeot and Renault, while car plants in Spain and Italy had already been closed to protect staff and slow the spread of the virus.

The Government job protection scheme covers 80% of salaries up to a level of £2,500 a month, and it is understood that Nissan will pay staff an amount on top of that as some workers at the plant will have been earning more that before the outbreak.

A Nissan spokesman said: “Vehicle production at Nissan Sunderland Plant has been suspended since 17th March. This suspension will now continue throughout April.

“During this period the majority of plant employees will be furloughed, and we are grateful for the Government support that has enabled us to take this action.

“Our goal is to navigate through this crisis while maintaining activities critical for business continuity and to make sure we are prepared for the time when business resumes in Europe and we can welcome the Nissan team back to work.”

When the first suspension of work was announced in March, Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to call for immediate action to protect jobs in the automotive industry.

The coronavirus adds to an already difficult time for the automotive industry, which has been battling falling sales and readying itself for disruption to key markets because of Brexit.