Seoul  - Eight people were injured Tuesday in clashes between police and workers protesting against layoffs at the ailing South Korean carmaker Ssangyong Motor Co.

Sacked workers occupying a paint shop in the company's only assembly plant located in Pyongtaek, about 70 kilometres south of Seoul, shot nuts and bolts at riot police, injuring three policemen and five Ssangyong workers, the Yonhap news agency said.

About 3,000 police on Monday moved against the nearly 1,000 workers, who had been holding out at the paint shop for two months, following a court eviction order.

Production at the smallest of South Korea's four carmakers was disrupted by strikes and protests against mass layoffs two months ago, and has cost the company at least 196.5 million dollars, a company spokesman said.

The sackings are part of a rescue plan, aimed at preventing the company's dissolution. About 36 per cent, or 2,600 workers, of Ssangyong's workforce were to be cut.

Ssangyong's sales in the first half of 2009 dropped by 73.9 per cent to 13,020 units year-on-year.

According to an official of the metal workers' union, at least 600 of the sacked workers were still occupying the workshop on Tuesday. (dpa)