PRODUCTION at the crippled Ford Transit assembly factory in Southampton is set to resume as early as next Monday, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Unions at the sister plant in Genk, Belgium, have agreed to a set of proposals laid on the negotiating table by the motor giant.

Discussions went late into the night, and the industrial dispute has now been called off.

Shipments of crucial body panels to the Swaythling plant, which makes the best-selling commercial van, will hopefully begin either tomorrow or at the weekend.

Manufacturing ground to a halt last Thursday at the assembly plant in Swaythling because of supplies being throttled in Belgium.

More than 1,600 workers here are undergoing training while the headline dispute rumbles on.

Unions in Genk have been given a reassurance that they will produce the next generation of Ford Mondeos.

They accepted that pledge, and agreed not to stand in the way of 3,000 redundancies - a quarter of the workforce.

The Daily Echo also understands that Genk is a preferred bidder for two as yet undisclosed product lines, which would ensure job security.

Ford's corporate affairs spokesman in the UK, Tom Malcolm, broke the good news to the newspaper.

He said: "By Monday next week the first of the Transit vans should be coming off the production line."

The company is currently on a cost-cutting drive because of the depressed car sales market in Europe.

However, Southampton's Ford Transit is a jewel-in-the-crown brand.

The all-purpose van - a familiar sight on British roads - already has a 27 per cent share of the commercial van market in the UK.

Up to 375, with a total showroom value of £5m, are usually made in a day at the Swaythling assembly plant.