Japanese car giant Honda has announced that it will create 500 new jobs at its Swindon plant to meet a forecasted increase in production.
The move came as production began on a new Civic model and full manufacturing was resumed at the UK factory following supply problems.
Recent floods in Thailand and the Japanese tsunami earlier in the year both wreaked havoc on the car firm's operations.
Honda's Swindon workforce will now total 3,500.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This is great news and a tremendous boost to the workforce, the car industry and UK manufacturing."
:: Disposable household incomes have fallen for the fifth year in a row because of inflation and government cuts, according to the Bank of England.
The Bank's quarterly bulletin showed UK disposable incomes dropped by an average of £46 a month in the past year, giving a total fall of £720 in 12 months. The figure has dropped every year since 2007.
Some 56% of people said their pay was failing to keep pace with the rising cost of food, energy, and the rise in VAT to 20%.
Only 13% of households said they were better off.
:: The housing market will remain "uncertain and fragmented" in 2012, the property website Rightmove (Other OTC: RTMVF.PK - news) has predicted.
The forecast came after its house price index revealed a 2.7% drop in asking prices this month, a bleak end to 2011.
Rightmove said that while UK asking prices should rise by 2% in 2012, house hunters will find areas with a lack of choice and high prices or a glut of choice and bargains all within a few miles of each other.
It came on the same day that the Financial Services Authority called for tougher controls to make sure people can afford the mortgages they take out.
