The West Midlands Mayor has said negotiations are underway to find an investor for the major battery factory at Coventry Airport, but admitted he does not know when the project will get underway.

Andy Street's comments to BBC Coventry and Warwickshire come following the news yesterday (January 17) that UK battery start-up Britishvolt has collapsed into administration.

The government-backed firm had planned to build a major electric car battery factory in Blythe but is now set to make the majority of its 232 employees redundant.

Mr Street said the news showed the nearby West Midlands Gigafactory is needed more than ever.

"There is still an enormous opportunity and space to fill and that is why we have got to redouble our efforts to lobby for the Coventry gigafactory," he told BBC CWR.

He added: "If we were to get a really big, well funded investor to come in behind this, there is still an incredibly good case for Coventry."

Planning permission to create a 125-hectare gigafactory at the Coventry Airport site was approved at the start of last year.

And while the site could create up to 6,000 new jobs locally, an investor is still needed before the project can progress.

Coventry City Council announced last year that it would spend an extra £500,000 marketing the site, with the funding matched by Coventry Airport Ltd.

"The good thing is, there are negotiations but they are very, very confidential at the moment," Mr Street added. 

"But yes, the joint venture team behind the gigafactory are talking to the type of investor that will have the resources to make this happen. 

"People say to me 'when is it going to come to a conclusion' - I do not know the answer to that, but I do know that there are very, very active, live talks at the moment, and we hope that in the next few moments we can push that to a very good conclusion."