BHW Components, based at Worthington Way, Marus Bridge, manufactures airframe components for British Aerospace Systems and is seen as a strategic company in the aerospace industry in the North West.

But the 250 members of staff have been told 50 of them will be made redundant in the next few weeks.
It is believed 29 engineers who make the parts and 21 members of office staff are facing the chop, but bosses are not saying who will be going and when.

A worried metal sheet worker, who has been with the firm eight years, said: "They are totally messing us around. They are not telling us what figures and which departments.
"No-one knows. Everyone is in disbelief. They are playing with people's lives here. It's diabolical.

"Some people are coming towards the end of their working lives. They are volunteering, but they are not telling them whether they are going."
The man, who asked not to be named: "There are lads here with young kiddies and mortgages. It's soul destroying. We were initially told we would go by the end of August and then it was the end of September. We are not being given any definite answers.

"We believe that some people are going to volunteer for redundancies but they are saying 'we will let you know.'"
Employees are expected to receive statutory redundancy pay, but staff are worried they may not get their bonuses for years of service. A spokesman for the union Amicus said they were meeting the company to discuss the redundancies and were unable to make any announcements until all avenues had been exhausted.

This is not the first time the firm has experienced redundancies. Around 20 staff lost their jobs in 2001 and a further 60 went in 2003.
BHW Components is part of the Hampson group, which also owns another engineering company, Erlson, in Skelmersdale, where it has feared there may be further redundancies.
No-one from BHW Components was available for comment.