Car firm Daewoo has sold its research and development centre in Worthing to a Formula One racing team.

Tom Walkinshaw Racing has bought the Daewoo Technical Centre at Lyons Farm for a sum reported to be more than £4.5 million.

All 160 staff employed at the centre, in Lyons Way, are expected to keep their jobs but it is uncertain whether the TWR Arrows Formula One cars will be built there.

Oxfordshire-based TWR had been in talks with the ailing South Korean manufacturer to buy the centre since the beginning of the year.

Daewoo confirmed the sale had gone ahead although nobody from TWR was available to comment.

David Fleming, of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, said: "It has been on the cards for a long time now.

"From the union's point of view most of the issues that were causing concern seem to have been resolved. Now we are looking for stability and job growth."

The centre's future had been uncertain since its South Korean former owners went into receivership owing billions of pounds.

The number of engineers and designers employed at the centre is down from more than 700 a year ago.

There were three sets of redundancies and the remaining staff were not paid five times during the last 12 months of uncertainty.

The Worthing centre is one of the most advanced research and development centres of its kind.

Although TWR has not commented on what it intends to do with the centre, there have been reports the firm is teaming up with Renault on design projects.