Boycott campaigner gets Peugeot

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A union convenor who urged a nationwide boycott of Peugeot cars in a bid to save the Ryton production plant has admitted he now drives a new Peugeot.

Jim O'Boyle, former Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) convenor at the Coventry site, denies he is being a hypocrite for driving a 206.

The plant closed in January with the loss of 2,300 jobs when production of the 206 moved to Slovakia.

Mr Boyle said the vehicle is part of his negotiated redundancy package.

He was a principal voice in the union's £1m advertising campaign that called for the boycott of the French company's cars last June.

I am supporting British workers and I am very proud of driving one of the last Ryton-built cars ever to be built at Coventry Jim O' Boyle

At the time of the closure, Mr Boyle said the firm could never be forgiven for its decision.

Peugeot - Europe's second-largest carmaker - said everything possible had been done to help workers to find new jobs.

But he told BBC News that he had done nothing to be ashamed of and was proud to be driving one of the last models to built at Ryton.

He said: "We were urging people to boycott Peugeot cars not 206s specifically.

"The purpose of that was to get the company to recognise the best thing they could do was retain production of 206s in Coventry.

"It would be illogical to ask people not to buy 206s when that was the car that we built.

"Therefore we have done absolutely nothing wrong.

"I am driving a British-built and Coventry-built 206. I am supporting British workers and I am very proud of driving one of the last Ryton-built cars ever to be built at Coventry."

Last week, the company reported a slump in full-year profits as its net income in 2006 fell to 176m euros (£116m; $229m), from 1.03bn euros in the previous year.