Cause for joy at Vauxhall; ECHO.

GOOD news is at a premium in a recession - not least in the car industry.

So the agreement regarding the future of the UK's Vauxhall plants, including Ellesmere Port, that has been reached between Unite and Magna, the preferred bidder for General Motors' European operations, is more than welcome - it's a cause for celebration.

Last week, based on the launch of the new Astra and hopes surrounding the bid for the production of new electric car the Ampera, we were being cautiously optimistic about the immediate prospects for workers in this region.

That optimism appears to have been well-founded.

It isn't sensible to look too far ahead where the car industry is concerned, but we can at least say that things seem to be looking extremely good for our local workforce between now and 2016.

Production of the new Astra is set to take the plant up to that time - and seven years has to be seen as a long period in this sector of industry.

And the fact that production at Ellesmere Port is set to grow significantly from the level originally proposed should be seen as a vote of confidence in an excellent workforce.

We will see no compulsory redundancies while, for their part, workers at Ellesmere Port have agreed to a two-year pay freeze.

It has been a long and winding road involving intense negotiations between the Unite union and company representatives - and also the UK government, notably in the form of business secretary Lord Mandelson.

All that talking now looks set to pay dividends - and if its workforce continues to be rightly valued for its productivity and flexibility, there is every cause for confidence in the longer term future of the Ellesmere Port plant.