Jaguar Land Rover has urged the Government to continue providing cash to support industry, even if it is forced to make spending cuts elsewhere.

JLR warned that manufacturers needed support to develop staff skills and invest in research and development.

Andrew McCall, the government affairs director at Jaguar, issued the plea at the Labour conference in Manchester, as he took part in a fringe debate.

Jaguar Land Rover, which has plants in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, and Solihull, unveiled record-breaking profits of nearly £234 million in just three months earlier this year. It represented the best quarterly financial results by far since the Tata takeover of the car giant two years ago.

But Mr McCall warned the business was still struggling to raise finance as a result of the credit crunch and needed support to continue succeeding.

Industry recognised it would not receive a “big fat cheque”, he said, but he added: “Industrial support means money – you can’t avoid a decision about that, even in these straightened times.

“Whatever ingredients there are in the government’s role, it does need to be an active role. It can’t be a hands-off approach.”

Mr McCall also demanded that the government “buy British” at all times.

He told the meeting: “We shouldn’t have any publicly-funded vehicle fleets that are not British-built and that means the police, fire service and ambulances.

“They wouldn’t do it in Germany, they wouldn’t do it in France and we shouldn’t be doing it here.”