EIGHTY jobs could be lost at two businesses.

Redundancies are looming at York sister firms Portasilo and Portastor, which employ about 250 staff.

A spokesman said the businesses, which are part of the family-run construction company Shepherd Group, were consulting with workers and representatives over restructuring and reducing costs.

He blamed difficult trading for the decision.

The spokesman added: "We need to take action on a wider front to re-organise and restructure to be more competitive in our chosen markets.

"In some areas, the restructuring may involve changes in responsibility or reporting lines and in others there will be a reduction in the workforce.

"We anticipate a potential redundancy of 80 positions across the two companies."

Portasilo and Portastor make and supply systems for storing and handling materials, while Portastor is a specialist in providing buildings for various industrial sectors.

He stressed the Shepherd Group remains a successful business, with its Portakabin arm expanding.

Shepherd's construction division is the main contractor on the £82m Hitachi train building factory in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

It previously handed Finley Structures, also based in Aycliffe, the task of constructing the steel frame of the main factory on the 42,700sq metre site.