A student is appealing to the former workers at a famous Paisley car factory to help him with his history project.

Andrew Quinn, from Gallowhill, wants to speak to people who worked at the Peugeot Talbot plant when it closed in 1981.

The 21-year-old Glasgow University student is writing about how the closure of the factory – which started as Rootes in the 1960s – affected the local area.

The senior honours year student said: “I’m looking for people who worked in the plant at the time of the closure.

“The closure had an effect on everyone at the plant, as well as people who didn’t work there.

“It was a very important thing that happened to the area.

“It’s something I couldn’t see happening now.

“There were nearly 5,000 jobs lost, so if that were to happen just now it would have a massive effect om Paisley, Linwood Renfrew and Johnstone – the whole Renfrewshire
area.

“It’s something that’s not really been covered, what happened to all of these workers? What did they do, what different jobs did they go
into?

Andrew Quinn is appealing for information about Peugeot Talbot

“And also in terms of unemployment it can be very bad for people to find an identity without work.

“It could be bad for your mental health, but back then it was a thing that wasn’t discussed very much.

“So it will be interesting to learn the human effect of that and seeing how people coped.”

Andrew will be submitting his dissertation as part of his History degree, but there is also a possibility his work could be published.

“I would like to,” he said.

“It would depend if somebody wanted to publish it.

“But obviously I’ll use it for my grade and once it has been submitted if anyone wants to read it, they can read it as well.”

Construction at the Rootes factory began in 1961 to produce the famous Hillman Imp.

The factory had a direct rail link, which allowed cars to be transported by to places all over Britain.

The factory later produced the Hillman Avenger and the Sunbeam.

To get in touch with Andrew, email him at andrewjquinn97@gmail.com by the end of August.

More of the latest news from the Paisley Daily Express