THIRTY five fewer workers have lost their jobs at Southampton’s container terminal than first feared, the Daily Echo has learned.

Now, consultations on plans to axe 63 staff posts have finished, 27 fewer jobs than predicted have had to go.

At the same time, plans to shed 64 staff from key contractor South Coast Port Services have been shrunk by eight posts.

It is a timely boost for a workforce which was at one time reported to be considering strike action over the plans for compulsory redundancies.

Nevertheless, the facility, recently renamed DP World Southampton, has seen its workforce shrink by almost 100.

The cuts followed a slump in container trade between the Far East and Europe – a mainstay of Southampton’s business, which is understood to have shrunk by well over ten per cent as a result. Major customer the container giant Maersk Line has also contributed to the misery by switching its business to bitter rival Felixstowe.

The pain has been felt across the docks with a succession of job blows for ABP workers who heard in April 42 staff were to go, including deputy port director captain Steven Young, after 45 were shed late last year.

At the port, the key car handling business has been especially hard hit by the recession, with the number of cars crossing the dockside in the city collapsing by 50 per cent.

A DP World Spokesman said: “We have now completed several weeks of consultation with staff representatives regarding the company’s redundancy proposals announced in February.

The company’s proposals affected 63 jobs, operational and office based. Through a variety of initiatives including job sharing, unpaid sabbaticals and a voluntary release programme, we have been able to significantly reduce the number of compulsory redundancies.”