And union chiefs warned there are more to come across the industry, with experts also predicting that for every Nissan job that goes another three will follow in the regional economy.

It is estimated that 12,000 people are involved in the Nissan supply chain.

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Davey Hall, Regional Secretary of Unite, said: "The fear that we have is that the job cuts at Nissan will reverberate upon all supply companies here in the North East and elsewhere around the country as it is likely to have a domino effect."

Nissan operates a "just-in-time" production system which means the plant does not keep a large stock of parts on-site.

As a result, the bulk of its supply chain is based in the North East and employs up to three times as many people as the Nissan factory itself.

The Echo understands companies in the Nissan supply chain have already started to shed jobs, with Johnson Controls yesterday planning to make about half of its 200-strong workforce redundant. No one was available for comment at the firm yesterday.

Mr Hall described yesterday's announcement as "a ticking bomb with other manufacturers" and said the union would be doing everything it could to protect its members.

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He said: "Over two decades ago the Northern region saw the loss and demise of the steel industry, coal mining, shipbuilding and heavy engineering.

"We cannot afford to lose our car industry and will be doing everything possible in political terms to support our members."

While the scale of the cuts had been a surprise, the union realised Nissan had no choice but to take action, said Mr Hall.

He said: "There was an expectation that something had to happen as Nissan could not continue to pay full wages to laid-off workers.

"The size of the intended job cuts is without doubt a shock. However, the reality is that the sales of cars are down by more than 20 per cent in volume and Nissan has definitely taken out 20 per cent of its workforce."

It is only a year since Nissan announced it was to create 1,200 new jobs at its Sunderland plant – and predicted another 400 would be created within the Wearside supply chain as the plant responded to huge demand for the Qashqai.

Rainton-based Tacle Seating UK Ltd soon became the first firm to confirm it was creating 100 new jobs in response.

Tacle – a joint venture between the American Lear Corporation and Japanese company Tachi-S – was set up specifically to produce seats for the Qashqai.