Up to 175 jobs could be under threat in Chelmsford as Marconi sells off its optical components arm in a £19m deal.

Yesterday, Marconi refused to speculate on how the troubled telecom giant's off-loading of the division to Bookham Technology would affect workers in the county town.

But today, it was confirmed the division, based in Caswell, Northamptonshire, also has 175 workers at the Waterhouse Lane site in Chelmsford.

MP for West Chelmsford Simon Burns said: "It is very worrying because once again the spectre of uncertainty over job losses has raised its ugly head.

"From my understanding of the situation, nobody knows at the moment whether there will be any job losses or not, or what exactly is going to happen to the workforce. Sadly, we are going to be in this predicament until the situation clarifies itself. It is a rotten situation in the run-up to Christmas."

A spokesman for Marconi said: "The sale to Bookham is subject to a number of approvals and there will be a period of consultation with Marconi Optical Components staff before the transaction closes early in 2002."

Mick Elliott, senior Manufacturing Science and Finance Union representative at Marconi Mobile, said the 500 people employed at Marconi Mobile in New Street were safe.

Published Tuesday December 18, 2001