THE brakes could be put on more than 400 jobs in Worcester after car firm Audi announced it is to sell engine maker Cosworth Technology, which has two plants in the city.

Around 250 workers at the Wainwright Road plant in Warndon were told in August their jobs were at risk, but that some vacancies would be made available at the other site just yards away in Buckholt Drive, where 180 people work.

This now appears uncertain, after Audi revealed it is to sell the engineering, manufacturing and casting units of Cosworth for a figure thought to be close to £50m.

Distraught workers read about the sale in a Sunday newspaper and at the time the Evening News went to Press were still unsure what it meant for their future.

"We went into work yesterday morning to be handed a newspaper cutting saying that all four of the Cosworth Technology sites were closing," said one employee, who did not want to be named.

"We are all extremely annoyed that we have had to find out about the sale through the media and not our own bosses.

Risk

"No one can see a way forward from here, and our only hope is that whoever buys Cosworth Technology will keep us all on.

"We were informed back in August that jobs were at risk in Wainwright Road, but were told we could apply for positions at the other plant.

"It doesn't seem worth doing this now if the whole company is up for sale.

"We feel let down and one or two people have already walked out in disgust."

But other workers said they were glad of the imminent closure because of significant redundancy packages.

One worker who has only worked for the firm for six months said he was to receive a £4,000 pay deal.

Another said: "We've been given a good redundancy package so I'm not bothered about it closing. I'll just get a job somewhere else. Morale still seems quite high and many of the lads aren't that sad."

Cosworth Technology designs bespoke high-performance engines for some of the world's leading car manufacturers.

It made the cylinder heads and engine blocks for the Aston Martin Vanquish's V12, which had a starring role in Die Another Day, the most recent James Bond film.

But in a statement made to the Evening News earlier this year, a spokesman for the Wainwright Road plant said the firm had been unable to "win sufficient sustainability in the face of low wage overseas competition."

Merchant bank Lazard has been appointed to make the sale. Neither it, nor Cosworth Technology or Audi would comment on the latest news.

Review means work will be moved

AROUND 100 jobs could be lost in Worcester after the announced phased closure of the Morses Club catalogue firm in the city.

The news follows a review of the activities at the administration office in Watery Lane, St John's, by owners London Scottish Bank.

It has been revealed that work at the office will be transferred to other sites, although exactly where is unsure.

"We are holding discussions with staff and union representatives with the intention of minimising the consequences of potential redundancies," said a spokesman for London Scottish.

Morses Club, formerly part of the Kays catalogue empire, is expected to close some time during 2005.

Staff at the firm were reluctant to speak to the Evening News for fear that they would not receive their redundancy payments.

The firm occupies the former JF Willis Cinderella Shoe Works building, a company that thrived in Worcester for 128 years.

The shoe works was taken over by Great Universal Stores, of which Kays catalogue was a part of, in 1960, although it was short- lived before GUS pulled out of shoe manufacturing and the shoe works closed for good in 1976.

The building was then used by Kays as part of its mail order empire before Morses Club took over the site in more recent years.