A LARGE number of redundancies were due to be announced today by the Isle of Wight's largest private employer; GKN Aerospace services at East Cowes, with speculation that 400 jobs could be lost.
Workers at GKN, where 1,450 people are employed, were being given the grim news by management.
The scale of the job losses is expected to be significant, with both MP Andrew Turner and the Island's council asking to be kept informed.
The redundancies had been forecast for several months.
Union spokesman Brian Gearing said: "The losses, coming less than two weeks before Christmas, are set to cause heartache for families and rock the island's fragile economy."
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