Car brands Vauxhall and Opel are to receive a guarantee from the UK government.

A 300 million-euro loan will be guaranteed to the European arm of General Motors to help secure operations at the carmaker's two Vauxhall plants in the UK and also those of Opel in Europe.

The announcement, made by UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson on the BBC, seems at least to secure the future of Vauxhall plants in the UK.

Germany will now have to decide whether to put in a share of guarantee money for the brands after GM said it would like 60% of it to come from Germany, where many of its European employees are based.

GM had planned to sell Opel after going into bankruptcy protection last year, but then changed its mind.

The car maker recently said it needed 2 billion euros of loans and guarantees from European governments.