Now Telford bids to land Jaguar Land Rover's electric car project

Telford & Wrekin Council said it is perfectly placed and ready to welcome the car maker to its flagship T54 site.

JLR already makes its engines in Wolverhampton, has said it wants to create 10,000 jobs by making electric cars and batteries in the West Midlands.

The council now says it wants to capitalise on the location and lure it to Telford.

Russell Griffin, council spokesman, said: "We are confident that Telford's flagship T54 site and our advanced manufacturing corridor with 90 acres of competitively priced and ready to go land, makes us well placed to capitalise on the exciting new opportunities presented by JLR.

"The council's £50m growth fund is already enabling us to invest upfront into site preparation and has already been instrumental in attracting new investors including Magna Cosma into the borough."

Mr Griffin said the council will now be making an offer to the company.

"Through this, combined with the strong growth of our existing automotive companies, new investment from Tier 1 automotive companies, substantial investment in automotive composites research and automotive manufacturing by the University of Wolverhampton at the Telford Innovation Campus, we will be presenting a strong offer to JLR," he added.

Yesterday, Wolverhampton Council leader Roger Lawrence said he wanted the company to open another plant in the city.

He said: "We would be delighted if JLR would be prepared to consider expansion of the existing site in terms of the electric vehicles project."

And on Monday, Councillor Steve Charmley, deputy leader of Shropshire Council, put forward Oswestry as a potential location.

He said JLR could be lured to the region with a £10 million investment to get a vacant business park off the ground.

Shropshire Council will borrow the money to get work started on the planned Oswestry Innovation Park.

He said: "We will invest what is needed. The LEP money was never a guarantee, and that's why we had a plan B in place, so now we are looking to take out a loan in order for the infrastructure to move in.

"There are several companies that are hovering around and looking for a base, and we need to have places ready for that sort of investment."

He said Shropshire is an "ideal location" for major investors, adding: "Our aim really is to promote Shropshire as a place for investment. We've got so much going for us, we've got pretty good road links – okay the A5 needs looking at but generally our links are good, an available workforce in many of our towns, good schools, a good quality of life. We need to get that out there to these big businesses."