CALLS are growing for a pressure group to be formed over the APW Electronics pensions scandal in Hampshire.

More than 1,000 former and current workers at the American-owned electronics company near Southampton have lost up to 80 per cent of their promised retirement savings.

Its pension scheme has been wound up under a "compromise agreement" to prevent APW, which has a shortfall of £55m in its pension fund, from going under.

A pensions expert, who declined to be named, described the situation as the "worst of its kind" in living memory in this area.

Members of the troubled scheme say they now want an action group to pile on the pressure at all levels. They are especially worried because a loophole in the law means they are not entitled to compensation under two safety nets.

Eastleigh MP David Chidgey, who is raising his concerns with the government, said: "I am more than happy to give my support to an action group regarding this - not just with APW, but others as well - because it's a national scandal."

One of the victims calling for group action is George Dunford, who was due to collect a lump sum of £25,000 and a £7,000 pension on his 65th birthday on December 18.

He has been told by scheme trustees that he won't get a penny of the lump sum and that his pension is being slashed to just under £1,850.

George, from Sholing in Southampton, said: "I would be glad to be part of an action group because it's a way forward."

Another employee hoping to get on board if someone comes forward to spearhead a campaign of action is production engineer Alan Mills, 56.

Based at APW's smaller factory at Uxbridge, near London, he is the company's longest-serving worker, with 40 years' service, and is due to retire in nine years' time.

His projected pension has been cut from £12,000 to £2,400.

The APW scheme falls outside the qualifying requirements for the privately-funded Pensions Protection Fund and the government-backed Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). Earlier this month the government rejected plans to close the loophole, which would have allowed members of "solvent wind-ups" like APW at Chandler's Ford to be compensated under the FAS.

Only insolvent wind-ups will qualify. APW, which employs 285 people, does not come under that umbrella.

Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat, said: "It would be a scandal if the APW workers fall between both schemes and are not compensated."