NISSAN is recalling thousands of cars made at its North-East plant after a faulty steering wheel came away in the hands of a driver.

The Japanese manufacturer confirmed that about 7,000 Sunderland-made Qashqai sports utility vehicles are being recalled in the UK.

The move follows an incident in which a driver in Finland parking his Qashqai felt the steering wheel detach from the steering column.

Nissan said the driver had not been injured as the incident happened at low speed.

The firm became aware of the fault at the end of last month, when the driver filmed the problem and posted it on the internet. Following an urgent investigation, Nissan traced a rogue part fitted to about 600 vehicles produced between February 27 and May 16, this year.

The problem is with the boss joint. Nissan said the link had been weakened in one batch following a change made by the supplier to the tooling settings on the machine making them.

As a precaution, 51,000 vehicles, which include Qashqai and Qashqai+2 models made at the Wearside plant in the North-East, and Nissan NV200 vans built at its factory in Barcelona, Spain, are being recalled.

Owners are being asked to contact their local dealers to check if their vehicle is at risk.

A spokesman said: “Nissan retailers will inspect the casting date of the steering wheel armature and, where necessary, replace the steering wheel at no cost to the customer.

“Nissan is committed to a high level of customer safety, service and satisfaction and is working with its dealers to promptly address this issue.”

More than a million Qashqais have been built at the Sunderland factory since the car’s launch in 2006, with a second generation version of the firm’s most popular model going into production two years ago.

About 80 per cent are exported.