The final Vauxhall Vectra came off the production line on Thursday at Vauxhall's plant in Luton, bringing to an end almost 100 years of car production in the town.

About 1,900 jobs were lost in the move, which the company said was because it expected a fall in demand for vehicles in the Vectra market.

Around 1,200 of the affected workers left the company in recent weeks.

The final 700 clocked off on from the final shift bringing to an end another chapter in Britain's troubled and rapidly shrinking automotive industry.

It came amid bitter recriminations from unions who complained of shabby treatment of the workers.

They said it was deplorable that its totally committed workforce had learned the factory was being closed through newspaper and radio reports.

The factory at Luton stopped building cars almost 100 years after it opened, when Vauxhall moved to the town from a small plant in south London.

Vauxhall managing director Kevin Wale wrote to workers, praising their astonishing sense of pride and professionalism.

"All these qualities are not lost, they continue in all our other operations throughout the local area," he said.

Sir Ken Jackson, joint general secretary of the union Amicus, wrote to shop stewards: "The bitter disappointment felt at the end of nearly 100 years of motor vehicle manufacturing in a close-knit town such as Luton cannot be adequately put into words.

"We shall forever regret the treatment which Vauxhall Luton workers received, when they discovered via the radio that their plant was to close."

The future of the huge site at Luton is still uncertain and Vauxhall said all options remained open.

Vauxhall is investing £200 million in its second car plant, at Ellesmere Port, which will build the Astra and the new Vectra alongside each other.