150 jobs go at electronics plant

The plant will lose about a third of its workforce

An electronics factory in Lancashire is to shed 150 jobs as part of a drive to cut costs.

LG Philips Displays said redundancies at the Blackburn plant, which makes television and computer screens, would be voluntary.

The union Amicus said the announcement was a "bitter blow" to the local economy.

The plant will lose about a third of its workforce as a result of the cuts.

Competitive pressures

LG Philips, which employs 470 people at the plant, said it wanted to invest more money in equipment and staff training.

A 90-day consultation will follow with workers and trade unions.

The redundancies will take effect over the next six months with some workers leaving as early as January 2003.

Amicus national officer Danny Carrigan said he was seeking an urgent meeting with management, adding: "This is a much worse cutback than we had been expecting."

He said the union would be seeking to reduce the number of redundancies.

Union leaders had met managers at the Dutch-owned firm earlier in 2002 amid rumours of UK plant closures.

Mr Carrigan added: "The company told us it needed to cut costs because of competitive pressures."