130 jobs going at china clay firm

Job cuts are being made across the company

More than 130 jobs are being lost at a Cornish china clay company as part of restructuring of the business.

Imerys said it was cutting the 136 posts because of increases in energy and business costs.

The cuts will be made in the areas of operations and engineering, as well as general staffing.

The company is to hold a 90-day consultation period with trade unions and said it would do all it could to assist the employees affected.

'Moving staircase'

Dave Springbett, regional organiser of the Transport and General Workers' Union, said the number of cuts the company had made over the past three years was like a "moving staircase".

He said: "We've only just finished the last redundancy exercise, when 43 lost their jobs.

"During last year there were two other redundancy exercises, and the year before that about 400 people lost their jobs.

"When's it ever going to end?"

Imerys Community and Public Relations Manager Ivor Bowditch said the move was being made to protect the business.

He said: "It's a very sad day. I've been in the industry 40 years and I've seen a lot of restructuring programmes, and the need to do every one has been a disappointment.

"But we have to look forward and improve the productivity of the business."