The Queen Opens £500m Jaguar Land Rover Engine Factory in Wolverhampton

The Queen has officially opened Jaguar Land Rover's new £500m engine factory in Wolverhampton.

The car giant said the facility will initially create 1,400 jobs and the new 2.0-litre diesel engine, which will be produced at the plant, will eventually end up in the Jaguar XE.

"The Engine Manufacturing Centre represents all that is great about British engineering," said Dr Ralf Speth, the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover.

"Jaguar Land Rover is a business driven by design, technology and innovation and this investment and level of job creation is yet further evidence of our commitment to advancing the capability of the UK automotive sector and its supply chain."

Jaguar Land Rover said it was "extremely proud" to welcome The Queen at the opening.

"Jaguar Land Rover is extremely proud to welcome Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to the all-new Engine Manufacturing Centre," Speth added.

The company holds the Royal Warrant as "Manufacturers of Motor Vehicles, By Appointment" from all three current grantors: HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH The Prince of Wales.

But the opening comes after the Unite union warned that the company faces strike action after its members turned down a pay deal.

The shop stewards at Solihull, Castle Bromwich and Halewood said they were "disappointed" at the 14% three-year pay deal Jaguar Land Rover offered them.

"We are very disappointed with the company's offer at a time when they are making millions of pounds a day," said Des Quinn, a regional secretary for Unite.

"We believe they could have gone further to address members' concerns and we will now consult the workforce.

"We hope that the company comes back and revisits the situation and tries to make progress on what is a difficult subject matter."