CONTAINER port bosses have axed 22 contract staff and warned further job cuts can’t be ruled out.

Hours have also been cut elsewhere in the workforce and the situation is “under review”.

Meanwhile, as previously reported by the Daily Echo, major expansion plans at the facility, recently renamed DP World Southampton, have been put under review and a freeze placed on recruitment.

The 22 staff come from contractor South Coast Port Services and carried out general stevedoring work at the terminal, the second biggest in the UK.

It’s another blow for the facility, which employs 1,000 people and is grappling with what owners describe as “some of the worst market conditions the container terminal industry has seen”.

DP World Southampton managing director Campbell Mason said: “There have been some redundancies this year in our contractor workforce, combined with a reduction in the guaranteed hours worked by certain categories of that labour force.

“The situation is under review and we cannot rule out further adjustments to manning levels.”

Bosses had hoped to create a new berth and take over more port land in order to increase capacity to 3.7 million containers from the current capacity of around 1.9 million.

There are now question marks over the future of those plans.

Mr Mason said: “We are still actively working with the port authority, ABP, to progress the necessary applications for dredge and civil works which are central to our longer term expansion plans.

“However, given the current economic environment and the dramatic slowdown in containerised trade, the costs and timing of further expansion work will be very closely reviewed.”

The news follows exclusive revelations in the Daily Echo that volumes at Southampton docks have plummeted ten per cent.

Port insiders have revealed the steep drop off in container operations – equivalent to around 190,000 containers.

It is the latest evidence of the recession being felt in Southampton docks, where the vehicle handling business has also taken a major hit, slumping by up to 30 per cent – equivalent to a quarter of a million fewer cars passing over Southampton’s quayside.

Docks owner ABP announced plans to axe 45 workers in November last year.