Tyre maker Goodyear has warned of unexpected job cuts at its main UK factory, following weak demand in European markets.

The US tyre maker announced that it would halve production at the plant from 6,000 tyres a day to 3,000, meaning substantial job losses.

This announcement blows the company's previous statements out of the window

Gerard Coyne, Transport and General workers Union

Workers and union leaders said they had no inkling of the fresh round of redundancies, which come just eight months after the group announced it would axe 3,500 jobs worldwide following a slump in profits.

Talks are now to be held between the company and the Transport and General Workers Union over the number of cuts.

Bolt from the blue

Union secretary Gerard Coyne said news of the redundancies had come as a "hammer blow" to workers.

Two weeks ago, Goodyear arranged a multi-million pound deal with a property developer to sell its site and lease it back.

But after the sale, Goodyear Great Britain's finance director James Fraser was quoted as saying the deal would have no effect on day-to-day manufacturing operations.

Mr Coyne said: "Promises had only recently been made regarding the future security of the company. This announcement blows the company's previous statements out of the window".

More cuts

In February, Goodyear reported its first full-year loss in more than 10 years.

It announced 2,200 job cuts at the firm's Wolverhampton plant as part of 3,500 redundancies overall.

Goodyear said Wolverhampton continued to be a high-cost manufacturing source and had been hit by over capacity in the industry as a whole.