Nissan has been forced to “pause” one of the two production lines at its Sunderland factory due to supply delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK’s biggest car factory has paused production of its Qashqai crossover SUV and its electric Leaf car — with the aim of restarting on Monday.

The factory also produces the Juke model.

A Nissan spokesman said: “Production on line one at the plant has been paused due to supply chain disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We anticipate that production will resume on Monday next week.”