FLYMO is cutting 80 permanent jobs from its North-East workforce.

The cuts are being blamed on the seasonal nature of the products manufactured at the Newton Aycliffe factory which include lawnmowers, hedge trimmers and other electrical garden products.

A spokesman for the firm said: "Out of season we do not have enough work to support our existing full-time workforce.

"As such we must take steps to reduce the costs incurred in the low season, and continue to be innovative in the way we respond when we need to increase production."

The news came on the day that the British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Trends Survey revealed that manufacturing was on the brink of recession.

Flymo's core workforce will be reduced from about 600 to 520 after the cuts. However, the company will still need to increase the workforce to about 1,000 in the peak period of production, which is currently January to June.

The spokesman said: "In order to address the problem of trying to maintain a large workforce out of season, the company has proposed a voluntary redundancy programme to reduce the core workforce by up to 80 employees, relying then on recruiting a greater number of seasonal, temporary employees during the peak manufacturing period."

Earlier this year, the company introduced a system of annualised hours, which has already created greater flexibility. It is currently on a three-day week, but pays its workers for a full week's work.

The spokesman added: "We will still need to have around 1,000 staff at peak times, so there will be opportunity for staff taking voluntary redundancy to come back for six months of the year if they so wish.

"If the voluntary severance programme is unsuccessful then there will be no alternative than to consider the use of compulsory redundancies. Hopefully this can be avoided or kept to a minimum."