THE North-East was hit by another economic blow last night when it was revealed that 94 jobs are to be shed by a car parts manufacturer.

Bosses at TKA Tallent Chassis, formerly Tallent Engineering, in Newton Aycliffe, confirmed that the jobs were to go across all departments.

The move, which was blamed on a lack of orders, comes only three months after the company axed 65 jobs.

The business, which has two bases in the UK as well as operations in Belgium, India and the US, employs about 2,500 workers - more than 1,000 of whom are employed at its Newton Aycliffe site - and has a £250m turnover.

Managing director Simon Flunder last night blamed the redundancies on "the global situation".

A statement released by the firm said: "We regret to announce that we propose to terminate the contracts of 94 employees.

"The reason for this is that in line with the rest of the global automotive industry we are faced with a significant reduction in demand across all models.

"We anticipate we will be operating at this lower level of demand in the medium term and are determined that this action will help to secure the future of the remaining 960 employees."

Employees were given the news in a series of departmental briefings on Thursday.

One worker said: "Everybody is worried about their jobs.

"As far as we know it could affect anybody.

"The redundancies are across the board, from the shop floor upwards to skilled workers and administrative staff."

Councillor Bill Waters, cabinet member for regeneration on Sedgefield Borough Council, said the council had not been informed about the redundancies.

Tallent manufactures chassis for most major car firms and was bought by German firm Thyssen in 1991.