Royal Ordnance to close

Problems with the rifle first emerged back in 1991

The UK's last remaining small arms manufacturer, Royal Ordnance, is to close by the end of this year, with the loss of up to more than 400 jobs.

The plant, which is based in Nottingham, was depending on a contract from the British Army for the upgrade of the SA80 rifle.

But this contract has now gone to Germany.

British Aerospace, which owns the factory, says there has been a serious shortfall in workload.

Despite predicted annual orders of £30m, unions are now being consulted over the closure plans.

About 160 members of staff will be given the chance to relocate to another factory in Cumbria.

Dai Hudd from the IPMS union which represents staff at the plant said the closure could have been avoided.

There had been reports of problems with the Army's standard SA80 rifle.

Last month, the Ministry of Defence said it would spend £80m to correct faults in the weapon.

Gunmaker Heckler and Koch was expected to win the lucrative work contract, with 22,000 SA80s scheduled to be modified at the firm's German plant by the end of next year.