BRIDGWATER MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has confirmed that a multi-million pound e-car battery plant will be built just outside Bridgwater.

He said a deal for Tata, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, to build the giga-factory on the Gravity site just outside Bridgwater will be formally unveiled tomorrow.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held secret talks in May with Tata boss Natarajan Chandrasekaran, in an attempt to kick-start Britain’s efforts to join the global race for electric car production.

Tata asked for £500million of state assistance from the UK, including subsidies for the Somerset factory’s high-energy use, a one-off grant from the government’s £1billion automotive transformation fund, and road improvements to the site near the M5 motorway.

 

The new factory will create at least 10,000 new jobs.

The UK beat a similar bid by Spain to attract the facility.

“Why Bridgwater?” said Mr Liddell-Grainger.

“Its simple. Because we do it best, we have a huge ready-made site with amazing transport links and the finest workforce in Britain."

Those transport links also include new upgrades for walking and cycling routes to the new Gravity site.

"We also have an extraordinary team at Gravity who have made this possible and the efforts of (former) Sedgemoor District Council also deserve special mention.

"They pushed for this breakthrough behind the scenes. If it wasn’t for Sedgemoor we probably wouldn’t have anything to celebrate at all.”

There has also been plans submitted for new homes in the Puriton area to help support the influx of people.

The Gravity site used to house the old Ordnance factory where the wartime bouncing bomb was loaded with high explosives. The site has been meticulously cleared, cleaned and repurposed.