THE dramatic collapse of MG Rover will see more than 300 workers from Redditch lose their jobs, it was revealed this week.

More than 230 were among the 5,000 who were sent redundancy letters on Monday, while another 80 or so are being kept on to finish cars already in production and help mothball the factory.

One of those to be axed is Adam Standford, 20, of Munsley Close, Matchborough East.

Mr Standford was forging a career in engineering with an apprenticeship at the Longbridge plant before the blow. He said his redundancy had left him facing a "cloudy" future.

"I still don't know what redundancy package I'll get or whether I'll even get another job.

"Who's going to want to employ an apprentice who goes to college one day a week when there are so many other engineers now available?" he added.

But Mr Standford, who was in the fourth year of his apprenticeship, said he was determined to at least continue his college education in Dudley despite his company car having to be returned.

''I'm in a more favourable position than most. I live with my parents and I'm young enough to survive this,'' he said.

"But many of my colleagues, who have worked most of their lives at Rover, are in a desperate situation, with mortgages to pay and children to feed. What are they going to do?"

The number of job losses in the town was revealed at a full meeting of Redditch Council on Monday.

After a lengthy debate, councillors agreed to provide up to £20,000 for the town's Citizens Advice Bureau, should it need it, to provide support for those who have lost jobs.

The meeting also heard as many as 18 Redditch component suppliers which relied on Rover for up to a fifth of their trade could be hit.

But last week, Redditch Manufacturers Association chairman Graham Tarbuck told the Advertiser he believed supply chain job losses would be minimal as most firms had diversified in the past five years.

The council welcomed the move to set up a taskforce and the provision of a £150 million Government support package for suppliers and retraining.