POLITICIANS say the fact that 200 Gwent workers face being out of a job just before Christmas after being told their posts are at risk is a major body-blow to the area.

As the economic crisis in the UK deepens, Northern Automotive Services in Gilwern, near Abergavenny is proposing 99 redundancies and up to 90 staff have been told they could be made redundant at Wacker Neuson in Tredegar.

Northern Automotive Services, which supplies aluminium products to the car industry, said the exact number of redundancies has not yet been determined. They are now in a 30-day period of consultation with staff.

It is understood that there are a total of 450 workers at the Gilwern site.

Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, Peter Fox, said the authority regrets the loss of any jobs in the county and urged the company to make every effort to retain as many jobs in Monmouthshire as possible.

It is planned up to 90 out of 97 staff could lose their jobs when Tredegar firm Wacker Neuson, which makes wheel dumpers for the construction industry, moves production to an Austrian site in the new year. The company is Austrian-owned.

But production at the Tredegar site which was set up on the Crown Business Park in 1999 will continue until Christmas and the area may still offer some support work when production moves out of Gwent.

Wacker Neuson employees were sent home after the announcement was made at the site on Thursday and will return to work on Monday.

Managing Director of the Tredegar site, John Rawnsley, said the news came as a shock to many.

He said the planned closure of the plant is partly due to the downturn in the current economic climate.

Mr Rawnsley said it is also due to the decrease in demand with orders for its wheel dumpers falling by 48 per cent in January to September compared to last year.

He said: “Employees at the plant were briefed on the plans and assured of the commitment of the company to work with local and regional stakeholders to support them in the wake of this announcement. “ The firm's 30-day consultation process will start next week.

MP for Blaenau Gwent, Dai Davies, said the valleys community needs manufacturing as a base for its economy but this is continuing to be eroded. He said every single job is important to this area.

He added: “Businesses withdrawing to go to Europe is a going to do significant damage.”

Blaenau Gwent Council leader Des Hillman said the council will work closely with the National Assembly to support the workforce.