Heart of (fibre)glass

TVR has confirmed that following a hard winter, it has been forced to lay some workers off. This is a temporary move to tide the company over, according to spokesman Ian Law.

He couldn't yet say how many workers were involved, but insisted that the workers were made redundant and hadn't "simply fallen off". He also downplayed rumours that electricians at the Blackpool factory stopped working every time it rained or the wind was blowing funny.

TVR traditionally suffer poor sales during harsh winters, as 95% of test drives conclude with an odd plastic car lodged backwards in a hedge whilst the driver phones a Porsche dealership.

For the future, however, TVR remains optimistic that its plans to expand in the Middle and Far East, where it doesn't rain often, will help to pull it out of the problems created by slow domestic demand. In addition, Law reckoned that we're in for some big surprises at the British Motor Show in July.

Industry insiders are bracing themselves for a hysterically swoopy plastic monster that looks like a tartrazine fuelled 10 year old boy broke into the styling studio, has a really loud V8 and smells like a canoe.