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Jaguar Land Rover is reducing the number of vehicles it makes at its Halewood factory, as worries over government policy on diesel engines, allied with Brexit concerns, impact sales.

The Range Rover, Discovery Sport and Evoque are built at the Merseyside plant. The rate at which they roll off the line will be reduced.

While world sales of JLR vehicles are healthy - jumping 7pc in 2017 - British consumers have been more reserved in their spending. 2017 saw 118,200 JLR vehicles find UK homes, a figure which is little different to the previous year.

There has been concern for some time that production would slow at the Halewood plant. Workers fretted that the present three shift production line would be reduced to two, resulting in job losses.

But the Indian-owned firm said there would be no job losses - only a lower production rate.

A JLR spokesman said the car industry faced challenges, with consumer confidence taking a knock.

"Uncertainty surrounding Brexit" has impacted consumers in the UK and mainland Europe, he said.

45 per cent of JLR's UK output is sold in mainland Europe.

“Add to this, concern around the future of petrol and diesel engines, and general global economic and political uncertainty and it’s clear to see why industry is seeing an impact on car sales."

Production schedules were reviewed on an ongoing basis, "to ensure market demand is balanced."

One such review has led to "temporary adjustments to the production schedule at Halewood”.

The majority of UK-sold JLR cars - around 80 per cent - are powered by diesel engines. But the UK government is concerned that diesel engines are contributing to air pollution, resulting in a slump in demand.

Diesel sales fell by 17.1 per cent in 2017.