LDV vans 'running out of cash'

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Last Modified: 23 Feb 2009
By: James Blake

The department of business says Peter Mandelson will not be involved in negotiations to save a carmaker for the sake of "propriety", James Blake reports.

The LDV vans plant in Birmingham says it is "running out of cash" and has asked the government for a multi-million pound loan.

LDV is owned by the Russian company Gaz, which is run by Mandelson's friend, the Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

The plant, believed to be the one union leaders were warning last week was under threat, has not produced any cars for two months.

Company bosses have asked for the loan to tide it over while it negotiates a buyout.