One of the biggest employers in the district is to axe 130 jobs - only months after announcing expansion plans.

Car parts company Denso Marston said it was shedding the jobs because of poor profitability and significant financial losses.

The Japanese-owned company, based in Otley Road, Baildon, makes radiators for the global car and truck

industry and celebrated its centenary last year.

Denso Marston said the "urgent"

re-structuring, which would reduce the workforce from around 1,000 to 870, was necessary to ensure the long-term

survival of the company.

"It is also clear that the current cost base of the business cannot be

sustained, particularly at a time when competitive pressures in the automotive component manufacturing industry are increasing incessantly," said the company in a statement.

"In order to both secure a significant immediate reduction in the fixed costs of the business and to establish a new lean structure for the organisation, a reduction of manpower in indirect support and staff areas will be necessary."

It is understood that no direct manufacturing jobs will be lost and the redundancies will be confined to areas such as stores and transport.

Denso Marston, part of the giant multi-national group Denso, would not reveal the extent of the financial losses which had prompted the job losses. Last year it had sales of £84 million.

Denso bought out Shipley-based IMI Radiators Ltd in 1989. IMI Radiators had been based in the town since 1904.

The firm has started a 90-day consultation with those who are losing their jobs. Management said some compulsory redundancies would be required.

"The company regrets the impact on employees affected but must take immediate action to reverse the current critical situation and to secure the future of the business," added the statement.

Last year the long-established manufacturer unveiled ambitious expansion plans which involved taking on an additional 50 staff and extending the Otley Road factory.

The firm's head of human resources, Beverly Sugar, admitted that the expansion plan may have been "too rapid".

"There has been significant growth in the business and that has contributed to our financial situation," she said.

"We haven't had redundancies for many, many years and a lot of people won't even remember them. But we have to show that we're making a profit in our own right despite being part of Denso. We now have to re-establish a way forward.

"I hope this is going to be it in terms of job losses. We are not a business that will announce annual reductions. We're still one of the biggest employers in the area.

"We have kept manufacturing going while all those around us have closed. We have been a big employer of choice for a lot of people for many years."

The restructuring is likely to ease the company into other markets like those for off-highway trucks such as JCB and Caterpillar.

Doug Cooper, the regional organiser of the GMB union which represents workers at the plant, said: "The announcement has come as a surprise and a disappointment for the GMB membership.

"The GMB's role now is to try to reduce the need for compulsory redundancies through meaningful consultation."

Jobless figures for the district published last week show a 2.9 per cent unemployment rate for March, with 8,291 people registered as unemployed, a fall of 0.4 percent on the same time last year.