Ford to shed 1,100 UK jobs

Britons working at Ford in two UK plants face unemployment after the company revealed it was ending over a century of production in the UK.

The company has said it will shut its Southampton plant at Swaything – where Transit vans are made – and its sheet metal pressing plant in Dagenham, with both due to close next summer, along with another factory in Belgium.

Around 1,400 jobs will be affected in the UK, although the company says it expects only 1,100 will be shed, while the making of parts such as engines will continue to take place in Britain.

However, for those losing their livelihoods the future may be bleak, not least for people who have debts they may subsequently struggle to service as their income falls.

Official figures have revealed that although the number of people taking or being forced to take redundancy in the three months to August was 16,000 fewer than in the previous quarter, the total was still 131,000.

By James Francis