Vauxhall jobs to be lost

More than 430 jobs will be lost at car giant Vauxhall in Britain, including 340 from Merseyside, under a huge cutback across Europe aimed at making savings.

Union leaders said they were disappointed that 340 jobs will be cut from the firm's plant in Ellesmere Port and a further 94 from its van factory in Luton, both over two years.

The cuts will be part of 12,000 job losses announced last week by Vauxhall's owners General Motors which will mainly hit Germany.

Dave Osborne, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, hit out at the job cuts in the UK in view of good levels of efficiency achieved in the past year.

Vauxhall workers in the UK will join a day of action across Europe tomorrow aimed at campaigning against plant closures or compulsory redundancies.

A Vauxhall spokesman said the Astra, built in Ellesmere Port, and the Luton-built Vivaro van were both successful, but he added that the firm's losses in the UK had doubled last year.

"Manufacturing wise we are in a strong position, but we are in a loss making business and we need to work hard to address profitability."