THE site of Ford’s doomed Southampton plant must be used for jobs.

That is the view of ward councillors from Swaythling, where the plant is located, who have a range of ideas on what it could be used for.

The plant will close on Friday after 40 years of producing transit vans, ending a 60-year-long link between the manufacturing firm and the city.

And the area’s ward councillors have called for it to be vacant for as short a time as possible.

Conservative ward councillor Spiros Vassiliou said: “We have to be open-minded about what the site could be, but the most important thing must be that it creates jobs.

“That might be manufacturing or industry, which would be a good thing as it would create local jobs.”

Liberal Democrat Maureen Turner thinks there are a number of other potential uses for the site.

She continued: “As a city we are in desperate need of housing and I believe that is possible at the site.

“There has also been talk of having space for small, start-up business there, which could be useful for people who have been made redundant, either at Ford or elsewhere, who want to start up their own business.”