These come as part of the latest round of 684 redundancies across the company's UK sites revealed by bosses this afternoon.

The latest losses at JCB Transmissions come on top of 55 declared in December, 57 in September, 30 in April and 26 in May.

In a statement the company said the redundancies were primarily as a result of the lack of credit available from banks to fund machine purchases and continuing low confidence.

Production in the UK in the first three months of 2009 will be around 75% lower than at the same time last year and an anticipated upturn in the second quarter now shows no sign of materialising, added the statement.

JCB chief executive Matthew Taylor said: "Back in November we forecast a moderate second quarter recovery in 2009 based on the fact that governments around the world had pumped a huge amount of money into recapitalising financial institutions and had committed to stimulus packages which included significant spending on public construction projects.

"Two months later, despite the recapitalisation, customers are still struggling to buy machines because of a lack of available credit. And with government-funded construction projects not moving forward quickly enough, this means the anticipated second quarter recovery simply won't happen."

He added: "The ongoing reluctance of the banks to provide credit is aggravating an economic downturn which is now becoming much steeper than we could have ever envisaged. This unprecedented situation needs to be addressed with some urgency so that confidence and stability can return; otherwise irreparable damage will be caused to the UK's manufacturing industry."

JCB's plants in Staffordshire and Derbyshire are also affected by the latest wave of cuts. JCB Transmissions in Wrexham currently employs more than 400 people.

Last October GMB members voted for a shorter, 34-hour working week, a move which continues to protect a further 332 shopfloor jobs.

Last week - when there was no production at JCB - the company undertook the biggest-ever training initiative in its history, with more than 2,000 employees completing a programme which will result in achievement of NVQ and City and Guilds qualifications.

The latest job losses affect 593 shopfloor and 91 staff positions across the JCB Group and are in addition to 1,000 redundancies announced since July.

JCB employs around 7,900 globally, with around 4,800 in the UK.

GMB area officer Mark Jones said: "Although this latest announcement is not a total surprise it is still very disappointing as it will give rise to a degree of anxiety.

"We will work with the company locally and at group level to do all we can for the workforce in a very difficult situation."


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