Korean car giant Daewoo says its UK workers will be paid in time for Christmas despite the financial problems being faced by the conglomerate.

The Manufacturing Science and Finance union has voiced fears that staff at the company's technical centre in Worthing might not be paid at the end of the month..

The workers have already had their salaries delayed twice this year and the union said staff "feared the worst."

But a Daewoo spokeswoman said there was no reason to believe that salaries would not be paid on time at the end of the month and said the company expected money for salaries to arrive next week.

Daewoo has sought to assure its workers and customers in the UK that it will be "business as usual", even though the Seoul-based car manufacturer has been declared insolvent with multi-million pound debts.

The company is now undergoing what it calls a corporate restructuring programme and plans to sell off the Worthing site, possibly to the American car firm, General Motors.

In its statement last week, the company said: "Daewoo Cars is a self-sufficient subsidiary that does not rely on funds from Korea.

"For both the sales network and the Worthing technical centre it is business as usual."

The unions have welcomed the news that the company plans to sell its technical centre and says it would be a "golden opportunity" for the Worthing site.