WORKERS at chemicals company DuPont's base in the region are bracing themselves after the firm revealed plans last night to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide.

The US fabric designer, which employs about 350 people at Wilton, on Teesside, announced the news as part of a major cost-cutting drive.

Most of the jobs - which account for about six per cent of the firm's workforce - will be lost in North America, but a significant amount are to be shed in Western Europe.

The company, which makes materials used in clothing, health care, construction and electronics, would not confirm last night whether any jobs would go in the UK.

It also has bases in Dagenham, east London, and Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage, both in Hertfordshire.

The redundancies will not include the company's textiles subsidiary, Invista, which produces products such as Lycra and stain-resistant carpet fibre Stainmaster.

The Invista division at Wilton International Centre employs 500 people.

DuPont, which operates in more than 70 countries and has 20,000 employees, made the announcement as part of a £490m cost-cutting plan revealed in December.

The cuts exceed the 2,500 estimated last week by a union representing workers at the company.

During the coming year, about 3,000 people will be made redundant while 500 are expected to leave voluntarily. In addition, 450 contractor positions will go.

DuPont chairman and chief executive Charles Holliday described the cuts as "difficult but necessary".

He said: "These actions will help assure the near and long-term competitiveness of our businesses worldwide as well as progress toward our mission of sustainable growth."

A spokeswoman for the GMB union said: "UK manufacturing can ill afford to see these kind of job losses."

Mr Holliday added that the company's actions did not "diminish its attention to growth".

Special focus would go on high-growth areas such as India, China, and central and Eastern Europe.

DuPont has invested millions of pounds into the North-East, but its time on Teesside has not been without problems.

About 70 workers lost their jobs on New Year's Eve, 2002, after the company announced it was to close the smaller of its polyethylene terephthalate production plants.

And in May last year, the firm was ordered to clean up its act by the Environment Agency after 700kg of titanium dioxide spilled into the River Tees.