MORE than 1,000 Hampshire workers are set to have new American bosses after Smiths Aerospace agreed a £2.4 billion takeover.

US giant General Electric is to buy the business, which has a major base in Hamble and a second in Chandler's Ford.

The deal, which is subject to shareholders approval, leaves staff wondering about their future.

The world's biggest jet engine maker, General Electric employs 16,000 people in the UK and now plans to review the structure of the two operations.

Bosses said it was too early to comment on the future of the Smiths Aerospace UK operations and staff.

For more on this story see later editions of today's Daily Echo