Manufacturing in Bradford could face 'total collapse', according to a trade's union.

The GMB - Britain's general union - says that with 4,500 manufacturing jobs lost this year in West Yorkshire, the region's manufacturing sector could disappear within three years.

"Manufacturing is rushing towards a total collapse. Yorkshire and Humberside has seen a massive number of redundancies in the last six months, more than four-and-a-half thousand. That's nearly 750 a month or 34 workers every day," a spokesman said.

One of the companies highlighted in the report is Pace Micro Technology in Shipley, which announced the loss of 470 jobs from its engineering plant in Saltaire this May.

The company, a pioneer of digital technology for the home, recently released its annual report which showed turnover up by 39 per cent to £523.6 million.

Despite out-sourcing its manufacturing work, the company says it is still investing in the area.

"What creates Pace's wealth is technological developments and the engineers who create the ideas and technology that we can sell to the operations we deal with worldwide," a spokesman said.

"We are constantly recruiting engineers and that never stops. We have plans to recruit people across our sites, and Saltaire is a very important site for us."

The GMB report coincides with the release of Bradford Chamber of Commerce's quarterly economic survey, which paints a slightly more positive picture of the manufacturing sector.

Mike Cartwright, policy executive for the Chamber, said: "Our evidence shows that manufacturing is still in a dismal state, however during the last quarter our manufacturers have reported that things have improved for them."

The report showed that manufacturers experienced a slight recovery in sales at home with a continuing weakness in export markets.

The Chamber and GMB feel the industry would benefit from a reduction in interest rates.