The Honda Civic, which is built in Swindon, has been named Britain’s most reliable car.

This is good news for a workforce which has suffered because of the economic downturn. It has seen its production cut almost in half and the total number of employees reduced by more than 1,000 to 3,700.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be the top of the tree,” said Honda spokesman Steve Kirk. “It’s a testament to our great workers at Swindon.”

Five of the top six reliable cars are Japanese. Three of them are made in Britain with Toyota coming in third and Nissan sixth.

But it’s Honda owners who can drive smugly, knowing there is only a 10 per cent chance of a breakdown when the car is between three and six years old.

“These figures just prove how good we are at making cars,” said Ken Keir, the UK boss of Honda. “I’ve always told people to count the number of cars which you see broken down at the site of the road and it’s rare to see a Honda.

“And of course we do actually train AA patrolmen because they hardly get any practice on our cars.”

Other Far Eastern companies, like Mazda, Subaru and Mitsubishi, are high on the reliability index top ten.

At the wrong end of the table is Land Rover, with a 47 per chance of a breakdown, closely followed by Renault.

The index is compiled by insurers Warranty Direct, which gauges the most dependable used cars among 250 popular models.

The AA’s president, Edmund King, praised the Swindon workers at Honda. “It shows that workforces are an important element in the success of these companies,” he said.

Honda is always close to the top in the reliability stakes. Recently it reclaimed second place overall in the JD Power Survey, scoring highly across all four categories – vehicle quality and reliability, vehicle appeal, service satisfaction and ownership costs and included were the Swindon-built models.

That meant Honda has appeared within the top three manufacturers for four years running.

The factory is in its eighth week back at work after the four- month shutdown but on Friday will close for a three-week break – the usual two weeks plus one for the production cutback.