AN ELEVENTH hour bid to save hundreds of jobs at a Worcestershire engineering company has been made by the leader of Bromsgrove District Council.

Nick Psirides has written to Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to save Bromsgrove-based United Engineering Forgings Limited - which was formerly known as Garringtons.

Staff were told last Thursday, in a letter from the company's administrators, that it would be forced to close by the end of March, unless a new b uyer for the company can be found for it.

But Councillor Psirides, who has vowed to fight to keep the company open, wrote to the Minister appealing for her to offer financial support.

"The situation is very sad and the council is determined to do all it can to prevent closure," he said.

"We have already agreed to give serious consideration to any future application for business rate relief and confirm that promise.

"Now, I would like to see the Secretary of State to step in and offer financial support to keep the company up and running. "Engineering is a traditional industry within the Bromsgrove district and we do not want to see it disappear, but the administrators believe it is extremely unlikely that a buyer will be found between now and March."

United Engineering Forgings employs almost 500 people.