Power firm announces 1,000 will go

London Electricity Group (LEG) has announced it is to cut its UK workforce by 1,000 as part of a restructuring after last year's purchase of the Seeboard utility company.

LEG, owned by state-run Electricité de France, warned when it bought Seeboard from American Electric Power that there would be cuts among the combined group's 10,400 workers.

The job losses represent around 9% of the company's workforce, but there will be no compulsory redundancies, LEG said. The jobs are to go through a process of natural wastage, with most of the changes taking place in the second half of the year.

Fullarton Computer Industries, which was bought by Simclar International last August, has announced the loss of 500 jobs at its Gourock plant.

The firm claimed that the factory was unable to compete with lower-cost plants in eastern Europe.

Fullarton, which employs 1,300 people across Scotland, said other sites at Dundee, Prestwick and Irvine would not be affected.

Fullarton told the ISTC community union, which represents the Gourock employees, that it had issued a a 90-day notice of redundancy but, in fact, the plant was closed down immediately.

ISTC assistant general secretary Eddie Lynch reacted angrily to the news. He told BBC news: "The way that the company has handled this has been a disgrace. The workforce expected to return to work after their Christmas break and now find themselves locked out".