More than 120 jobs were hanging in the balance at a Shropshire car parts manufacturer today in the latest blow to hit the county’s economy.

Shimizu Industry UK revealed plans to close its plant in Hortonwood, Telford, which employs 124 workers, and transfer all its business to a sister site in Welshpool.

The company, which makes injection-moulded plastic parts for the automotive industry, for customers such as Honda, Toyota, Land Rover and Jaguar, said “significant” job losses were expected.

A statement from the firm blamed the global economic crisis for the downturn in orders.

It said: “The company has entered into a three-month consultation period with its employee representatives.

“Employees of Shimizu Telford and Welshpool plants have been on short time working since October 2008 in a bid to try and reduce overheads and minimise the risk of redundancies.

“However, significant losses from ongoing reduced orders can no longer be sustained and major restructuring is necessary in order for the company to survive.”

Last month, the Welsh arm of the company, which employs 125 people, was one of the first two businesses in Wales to get help from the Welsh Assembly’s £68 million ProAct scheme.

The initiative helps employers deal with a fall off in orders and to provide an alternative to redundancy by offering wage subsidies of up to £2,000 and £2,000 of funding for training for up to 100 workers.

Only yesterday the Government revealed it would be extending the ProAct Scheme to England for a six-month trial from April.

But Mark Pritchard, The Wrekin MP, said: “Ministers should have taken action far earlier which may have saved these jobs. The Government has acted too slowly.”

By Jo Cunningham