French carmaker PSA — owner of Vauxhall — announced on Monday afternoon it will close plants all over Europe including its Ellesmere Port factory on the Mersey.

More than 1,000 workers are employed at the Ellesmere Port plant.

“Due to the acceleration observed in recent days of serious COVID-19 cases close to certain production sites, supply disruptions from major suppliers, as well as the sudden decline in the automobile markets, the chairman of the executive board with the members of the crisis unit, decided the principle of the closure of the vehicle production sites, according to the following schedule and until March 27,” said PSA.

The scheduled closings are:

• March 16: Mulhouse (France), Madrid (Spain)
• March 17: Poissy, Rennes, Sochaux (France), Zaragoza (Spain), Eisenach, Rüsselsheim (Germany), Ellesmere Port (United Kingdom), Gliwice (Poland)
• March 18: Hordain (France), Vigo (Spain), Mangualde (Portugal)
• March 19: Luton (United Kingdom), Trnava (Slovakia)

“The site management teams will implement the site closure procedures locally, which will be done in coordination with the social partners,” added PSA.

“Groupe PSA remind that until then, compliance with the barrier measures, going beyond the recommendations of the health authorities on the sites, are the best protection to prevent the spread of the virus.”