OMINOUS black clouds and an icy wind greeted workers arriving for the afternoon shift at Peugeot Citroen’s Ryton plant on the outskirts of Coventry yesterday.

Their grim expressions indicated that most of them already knew the bad news — that their jobs will be gone by next year at the latest.

Either they had been called by friends on the morning shift or they had heard about the historic plant’s closure on the radio.

Even the unfortunate few who had woken late and discovered the news only on arrival at the plant said that they were surprised by the swift timetable for the plant’s closure, although not by the announcement itself.

Half-an-hour later they were pouring out of the factory gates, having been told by their team leaders that the plant will be closing next year and that they had the evening off.

A few workers sat quietly in their cars digesting the news. Most of their colleagues milled around the car park, joking, gallows-humour style, about their future job prospects, or huddled in small groups discussing the turn of events.

Maureen Mears, 42, a mother from Bedworth, said: “Feelings have been running high. It’s going to be devastating for a lot of workers with children and mortgages. It’s a big part of the community here and has been for years, but it’s not a surprise really. We’ve been hearing strong rumours about this for the past couple of months, but it’s still going to be a shock when it closes down.”

There was little faith among the workers in Peugeot’s commitment to keep the plant open until next year.

Dave Middleton, 46, said angrily: “This place will be gone by Christmas. We’ve bent over backwards for this company, we’ve worked unsociable hours, we’ve taken pay cuts, but they’ve done nothing for us. It’s sheer greed.”

Nodding in agreement, his friend, Sean Jones, 45, explained the air of resignation in the car park. “At the moment it’s not really sinking in,” he said. “By tomorrow, people will be really angry.”

As a father of a three-year-old son, Dean Birch, 39, is one of the workers who felt most exposed by yesterday’s announcement. He was bitter that the company had not provided more warning.

“They never kept us informed,” he said. “I feel a bit shocked to say the least, but what can you do? There’s nothing left now of Coventry’s motor industry. It’s been on the cards for a good while and in some ways it’s better being out in the open now at last.”

Trade union officials are organising mass meetings for the Peugeot workers at Ryton today. Their future employment opportunities will be the topic most urgently discussed.

Last night many of the workers leaving the plant were optimistic about their chances of finding fresh employment. Some, mostly older hands, were more pessimistic.

Peter Reeve, 57, has a friend who worked for MG Rover at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham until last year. He had witnessed his struggle to re-enter the job market after the plant shut down.

“I don’t think most people here will get a job,” he said. “My friend was at Rover and, for all these job fairs and interviews they set up, he, like a lot of them, is struggling.”

Martin Clark, a father of three, with a large mortgage, has worked at Peugeot for 18 years. “For people like me who are unskilled, it will be difficult to get another job, definitely.” he said, “but you’ve got to be positive. This gives a lot of people the opportunity to look for something better.”

The factory was built in 1939 and started life building aircraft engines before converting to cars in 1946. In recent years it had become an unhappy place to work.

Alan Cooper, 48, from Coventry, said: “They kept asking for that little bit more and for us to work that bit faster and a lot of people were taking time off with stress and depression.”