THIRTY-nine workers at a Redditch castings firm are to be made redundant just weeks before Christmas.

BSA Castings, part of BSA International, is to be wound up on December 9.

Nineteen employees at Shawbank Road were made redundant last Friday, and the remaining staff - except for two or three - will be going this Friday.

The group, which has a long history of making high-quality castings for defence, aerospace, chemical, nuclear, brewery, dairy, food processing and automotive industries in the UK and overseas, called in receivers Ernst and Young after hitting financial difficulties.

Ernst and Young spokesman Adam Holden said: "The business in Redditch is to be wound up on December 9. The few people remaining after this week will be engaged in quality checks on goods that have been returned."

A worker at the factory who went last Friday said: "Christmas is going to be absolutely miserable for all of us. We are absolutely devastated.

''This should not really have happened. We went from a £1.8 million contract that came to an end in September, to nothing. This is the worst scenario."

The employee, who did not want to be named, claimed the receivers were not interested in pursuing the offer because they wanted to sell off the site for property development.

"I think it is terrible the receivers seem uninterested in selling the business as a going concern and saving jobs," he said.

Last Friday, Mr Holden said: "Joint administrative receivers have been working towards selling BSA Precision Castings as a going concern.

''There was an interested party who had agreed to purchase the business but unfortunately, due to an unresolved issue surrounding the purchase, the deal cannot be completed."

BSA Castings employed a total of 270 people on sites around the country. Each site will be dealt with individually, said Mr Holden.

The directors at BSA Castings in Redditch declined to comment.