Hundreds of welders and engineers are to lose their jobs at a car parts firm in Shropshire.

Union Unite said the loss of 251 posts at GKN in Telford is a "body blow" for the local economy.

The jobs are being cut after contracts for building the Defender chassis platforms for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) are coming to an end.

The last day for the 230 workers is expected to be 18 August. Overall, the end of the JLR contract will leave around 350 workers remaining at the Telford plant. A further 21 redundancies from a hybrid bus project will be absorbed by GKN in Birmingham.

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Unite said it was disappointed GKN had not secured further contracts for the workforce.

Unite regional officer Matt Jones said: "Although these job losses have been on the cards since last December, this is still very bad news for the workers and their families, and, more widely, is a body blow to the Shropshire economy.

"These are skilled jobs that are being lost – the bedrock for UK manufacturing. As a country, we can't afford to lose these skills in a challenging post-Brexit world.

"This is a very competitive market influenced by global demand, however, Unite is very disappointed that new contracts have not been secured by GKN to replace the legacy contracts as this would have secured employment at the Telford site."

Mr Jones added: "Unite would welcome further discussions about investment and future projects at Telford. We are working with management and the other unions to explore avenues to try and secure as many new jobs as possible."

(LM/CD)