URGENT talks are continuing in a bid to save the remaining 200 jobs at Gwent's Solectron factory where 520 positions are being axed.

High-level discussions between the National Assembly, the Welsh Development Agency and Solectron are being held aimed at retaining the remaining jobs.

Solectron says it is looking for a "support" package to retain the jobs at Cwmcarn and build on the servicing side.

Hilary Hendy, executive director of the international division of the Welsh Development Agency said the agency is working as closely as possible with Solectron to "retain and enhance" the service-related jobs that remain.

Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan recently met Solectron bosses along with officials from the WDA.

Solectron swung the axe again this week slashing a further 170 jobs from its factory at Cwmcarn adding to the 350 which are already set to go. The move signals the end of manufacture at the former Nortel Networks factory which recently celebrated fifty years in Cwmcarn.

Fears are now that the remaining 200 jobs at the US-owned plant employed in servicing telecommunications equipment are under threat.

Unions fear the plant would be "unsustainable" without the manufacturing jobs which are being lost.

A Solectron spokeswoman told the Argus: "The 170 jobs which are also being eliminated from the plant at Cwmcarn along with the ones previously announced are part of the restructuring programme.

"Solectron is in ongoing talks with the various agencies in Wales including the National Assembly to look at ways to support further development of the servicing side of the business."

The spokeswoman said the talks surround the safeguarding of the existing jobs at Cwmcarn and further investment on the servicing side to underpin the future of the plant and create more jobs. She said the immediate future for the plant was that it will remain operational for servicing.

Communications Workers Union (CWU) national executive officer Bernard Roome said: "This new wave of job losses puts the future of the whole plant at serious risk as the service jobs rely to an extent on the manufacturing jobs. It may well be that the plant becomes unsustainable as a result of the ending of manufacturing at Cwmcarn."

The union held a meeting at the plant on Monday and at this stage have ruled out industrial action in favour of a "high profile" campaign to retain jobs at the plant. Mr Roome said: "It was thought that industrial action such as a strike at this stage would be less than productive in the circumstances.