About 450 are employed at Motorola in South Queensferry

It comes two years after the closure of its operation at Bathgate in West Lothian, which employed more than 3,000 people.

This latest blow to the electronics sector in Scotland is being blamed on the continuing global slump in the demand for semi-conductors and related products

The closure of the factory, on the south bank of the Forth, near Edinburgh, was announced last year - but the final date had not been revealed.

The company has denied that it has timed the closure to coincide with the Holyrood elections, in an attempt to deflect attention from the move.

Computer chips

The South Queensferry factory, which employs about 450 people, will close on 30 April.

Some 150 staff will be transferred to join the American company's 1900-strong workforce at East Kilbride in Lanarkshire.

Motorola had originally planned to move its South Queensferry operation to a new site at Halbeath, near Dunfermline in Fife.

But a slump in the world market for computer chips led to that move being postponed indefinitely.

We have been discussing the move openly with our employees for the best part of a year Patrick Hamilton Motorola spokesman

Motorola spokesman Patrick Hamilton said the firm announced proposals to close the South Queensferry semi-conductor plant last May and move its operations to the Lanarkshire factory.

He said: "Since then there has been a consultation phase and we offered all the employees alternative employment in East Kilbride.

"150 are going to East Kilbride and 300 have opted for redundancy and it's a generous redundancy package."

Mr Hamilton said the original plan was to close the site at the end of last year but that was extended for another few months.

He added: "We have been discussing the move openly with our employees for the best part of a year."

'Valuable skills lost'

John Quigley, regional secretary of manufacturing union Amicus-AEEU, said: "This is another blow for the electronics industry in Scotland.

"When we lose people from the sector we lose valuable skills and it means we will struggle to build the industry back up once we are over the current downturn."

He added that the union wants UK redundancy legislation strengthened to bring it in line with more progressive labour laws in France and Germany.