MORE than 250 jobs were lost in a North-East town yesterday as the effect of the economic turndown on the region’s manufacturing sector deepened, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Thyssenkrupp (TK) Tallent said it was forced to make up to 160 people redundant at its plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, after demand for its products continued to decrease.

The announcement, which was said to have “shocked and stunned” the plant’s 830 employees, takes the total number of redundancies at the car parts maker to 286 – more than a quarter of its workforce – in the past three months.

Also in the town yesterday, microchip maker RFMD said it would be making up to 99 redundancies – nearly a third of its 300-strong workforce – after seeing a dramatic downturn in demand.

The double jobs blow was described as “devastating” for Newton Aycliffe. Consultations between management and unions at both plants are under way to try to minimise the scale of the losses.

TK Tallent, which axed 86 posts late last month and a further 40 three months ago, told The Northern Echo yesterday the sharp decline in demand had not shown any signs of improvement.

The announcements came on the day that statistics revealed that new car sales had dropped by a third last month, illustrating the slowdown in the sector.

Tallent – Newton Aycliffe’s biggest employer – said the extent of the cutbacks was necessary to safeguard the longterm future of the plant.

“The speed and depth of the global economic downturn, specifically in the automotive sector, has forced us to look at our operating levels,” said a spokeswoman.

“Every effort will be made to protect the skills and longterm future of the plant.”

An employee at the plant, who asked not to be named, said workers were stunned by yesterday’s announcement.

“We’re shocked, absolutely devastated – you wouldn’t believe how devastated we are,”

he said.

“We have noticed that business has been slowing here, there has been a big drop in the amount of work we get, but 160 people is a huge amount to lose, especially after what’s happened recently.

And it’s a nightmare having to wait until after Christmas to know whether we still have jobs. It’s a terrible situation.”

RFMD, which took over part of the former Filtronic site in the town earlier this year, has also seen a noticeable drop in business.

An employee told The Northern Echo: “It’s always a shock when you’re told that jobs are going to go, but in another way it’s not a surprise.

There has been a definite drop in work, we can all see that. In all honesty, you can see that some cutbacks are necessary.

“It is bad for everyone working at RFMD and bad for the manufacturing sector as a whole in the region – it’s a bad day for Newton Aycliffe.”

A spokesman for the Unite trade union, which represents members at both sites, said: “This is devastating news for anyone, but especially so for these job losses to hit one town like Newton Aycliffe.

“We will be doing all we can to help minimise the scale of the job losses and to help members through this very difficult time, so close to Christmas.”