Ford is to axe 1,500 jobs from its Dagenham plant as part of plans for a big cut-back in production.

Volunteers for redundancy will be sought immediately at the plant, where the top selling Fiesta is built.

The news will have significant knock-on effects on the south Essex local economy.

Recent unemployment figures for the region show a sharp rise in the number of people out of work in Basildon, Thurrock and Southend.

Unions today urged Ford to provide assurances about the plant's long term future to the remaining 7,500 workers.

Nick Scheele, Ford's European chairman, said there was a long term structural problem which had to be addressed.

This will be achieved by the loss of one of two car manufacturing shifts at the plant - similar to changes already made in Merseyside.

Duncan Simpson of The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said: "These job losses are a bolt out of the blue and will send shock-waves through the workforce.

"Ford must now deliver concrete assurances over Dagenham's long term future and show that this announcement is not a signal that the plant is being run down.

"It is not right that Dagenham should bear the brunt of Ford's restructuring plans.

"We expect other European plants to take their share of the pain."

Regional negotiator, Colin Spence, said: "It's a terrible shame and it's always the workers that lose out in the end, regardless of whether it's good or bad management decisions."

Tony Woodley, national officer for the TGWU, said: "This looks like the death by a thousand cuts.

"We are well aware Ford has restructuring plans and we are well aware it has over capacity, but the UK did its bit when Halewood, Merseyside, ceased to be a Ford plant."

Daily production of the Fiesta at Dagenham will go from 1,200 to around 560 cars as aresult of the changes.

Local company MSX International which moved to Basildon last month to be near Ford, its main client, said the news will not affect business.

The engineering and design company brought 350 jobs to the town.

It is said a mass rally of up to 1,000 white collar workers from Ford's Basildon HQ and Dunton research centre at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon, will go ahead on Monday as planned.

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