A severance payoff agreement has finally been reached with workers who have been occupying a Goodyear tyre plant at Amiens in northern France.

The trade union said the deal was significantly better than what had previously been offered to the 1,170 workers. Details were not revealed.

It ends a dispute that has dragged on for seven years and comes just two weeks after two executives at the factory were taken hostage for 24 hours by members of the hard-left CGT union who also occupied the facility.

The ‘boss-napping’ led to mediation involving local politicians.

French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg said this could open the way for fresh talks with the US tyremaker Titan which had previously wanted to buy part of the plant and continue some production there.

Titan’s owner, the Texan tyre tycoon Maurice Taylor, withdrew a potential rescue bid on the grounds that French workers were lazy – triggering a political storm.