The Vauxhall car plant at Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, is to receive an £8.7 million training award, it has emerged.

It was first proposed last July and since then the European commission has aimed to ensure there was no breach of EC Treaty state aid rules.

The grant is not meant to subsidise Vauxhall but to help pay for additional training, which will place staff at the plant at the vanguard of automotive engineering. Ellesmere Port will roll out the next-generation Astra in the near future.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA, said: "The approval from the EU confirms that the agency will help to provide funding for training that really will make a difference.

"The plant at Ellesmere Port has an established history of producing automotive quality and now it has a future at the forefront of new production."

EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said the award will make a "genuine contribution" to the skills and competitiveness of the Ellesmere Port car workers.

Vauxhall's plant in Ellesmere Port employs 2,200 staff. The northwest is home to 450 automotive companies, which are responsible for a business turnover of £9 billion every year.