Ford has moved this week to quash fears that it is may be getting ready to pull out of Brentwood and strike a hammer blow to the town's economy.

It comes amid a flurry of media reports and rumours that Ford has moved the headquarters of its European operations out of Warley to Germany.

A Ford spokeswoman said this week that although there had been some internal changes to the company's operations over the last 18 months the future of the Warley offices was secure.

She said: "There are no plans to move any of our operations out of Warley."

And she rubbished claims that Ford's commitment to Britain was slipping, saying there was more investment by Ford in Britain over the last year than anywhere else.

However, such is the concern over the matter this week that Brentwood and Ongar MP Eric Pickles moved swiftly to gain assurances from Ford that it was not laying the groundwork for a withdrawal from the town.

He said: "Ford is an important part of the UK economy and a major employer in Brentwood.

''I am assured that the firm is keen to retain its headquarters in our borough and will be working hard to ensure that occurs."

Every suggestion that Ford could be considering leaving Brentwood sends shock waves through the town's economy.

In 1993 the company pulled its entire staff out of the town centre.

And in 1992 it was forced to dismiss as "scaremongering" persistent rumours that it was set to move all its operations to the continent.

It did admit, however, that it had carried out a "what if" study on moving some staff out of Warley.

Mr Pickles said he was confident that Ford's commitment to Brentwood was still strong.

He said: "The company's commitment to this part of Essex is a clear one, with some £4billion of investment at Dunton on the A127, which now employs some 4,000 engineers designing Ford vehicles for Ford markets around the world."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.