ANOTHER jobs bombshell hit Burnley on Tuesday as Hurel-Dubois UK prepared to sack 90 workers.

Unions say the announcement at the aerospace engineering firm arrived like a bolt from the blue.

The cuts come just a month after 216 people were made redundant at Prestige.

Hurel Dubois bosses said they were forced to cut costs because of stiff competition in the industry, and that the workforce had known for a long time that redundancies were likely.

The French-owned company, which makes aircraft parts, employs 600 people at its Bancroft Road factory. They were warned on Friday to brace themselves for lay-offs, but were given no indication of how many jobs were to go until Tuesday.

Unions representatives were this week holding talks with bosses.

Amalgamated Engineering Union officer Mike Cooney described the decision as "crazy" because the firm had been recruiting, and said 1997 had been a disaster so far for Burnley. The borough's dole queue is sure to see its biggest rise for a long time.

Burnley council is offering to help the sacked workers, but the head of the economic development unit, Hugh Simpson, said there was only so much the council could do.

"It is difficult to be very successful," he said. "Because, at the end of the day, it comes down to how many people buy aircraft components.

"If there is any way in which we can help, then we will do everything we can."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.