Lotus multi-million pound plan confirmed in Norfolk

Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced a multi-million pound investment to create 313 jobs to boost production at Lotus cars in Norfolk.

The sports car maker is to receive a £10.4m grant from the Regional Growth Fund to develop the Hethel plant.

This had been put on hold in April when former chief executive Dany Bahar left and takeover talks began.

Lotus owner DRB-Hicom has already invested £100m to boost engineering, productivity, efficiency and quality.

Lotus is also recruiting for more than 130 new jobs following the funding previously announced in July 2013.

"Lotus is part of the very successful British car industry and the investment has government support but is private enterprise essentially," Mr Cable said.

"The car industry, including iconic Lotus with some of the most innovative engineers in the business, has risen from the ashes and is now exporting across the world," he added.

Proton, the owner of Lotus Cars, was acquired by Malaysia's DRB-Hicom in January 2012.

Aslam Farikullah, chief operating officer at Lotus, said: "This grant is part of a wider strategy for Lotus created to ensure we thrive and grow.

"We are responding to increased global demand for our cars and engineering consultancy services."