Jaguar has announced that UK sales of its X-Type has hit record levels with the 250,000th model rolling off the production line at Halewood.

The vehicle was driven off the line at the factory late yesterday afternoon to be delivered to a customer in Cheshire.

Jaguar says it sold 20,932 cars in 2004 a 21.4%% increase on 2003.

In Europe, a record 17,067 cars were sold, resulting in a year-on-year increase of 56.2%.

The X-Type was first launched in 2001 with diesel and estate models being introduced in 2003 and 2004.