A senior manager at engineering firm GKN has called on manufacturers to make the most of the opportunity presented by the demise of MG Rover.

Malcolm Bird, director of quality and sustainable development, said the Longbridge site offered a chance for manufacturing firms to get involved in high tech industry.

He said: ?This is a personal view, because I live less than one mile from Longbridge.

?MG Rover was a very successful company, but it suffered from being on a small site which was always going to limit efficiencies and productivity.

?It has been a traumatic business for the people involved, but there is now an opportunity to establish high tech, high added value manufacturing there. It is a 500 acre site which can be developed for manufacturing.

?Sooner or later the factory had to be developed, but you could not afford to take it out of production to do so.?

Mr Bird said the opportunity presented by the vacant Long-bridge site could provide a boost to the whole region.

Speaking at the Manufacturer Live conference in Telford yesterday, he said: ?The factory gives us access to 500 acres, that is almost as big as Monaco. This is a unique opportunity for Birmingham and the region.?

But John Price, general manager of Remploy, was less optimistic about a return of car production at the site.

He said: ?I don?t believe it will happen because of the way that the deal was done. Every day that passes makes it less likely to happen.?