Lotus making 237 staff redundant

Staff are set to be made redundant despite sales success for the Exige

The car maker Group Lotus is to make more than 200 staff redundant out of a total workforce of 1,500.

The Hethel-based company said in November it was cutting up to 350 jobs after the loss of a major contract.

After consulting staff the group has now selected 237 permanent staff for provisional redundancy.

In a statement the directors said: "We regret it is necessary to downsize the UK operation through all areas of the business other than manufacturing."

The board of directors has blamed dramatic changes in the motor industry round the world for the cutbacks.

This had hit hard in the engineering services sector in which they were involved.

The statement also said demand for Elise and Exige models continued to exceed production and the company had moved into new markets including the United States.