The plant is being run down systematically, there is no investment and the machinery is falling to bits

Goodyear worker

Company bosses said the industry is suffering from severe over-capacity and a drop in demand due to economic pressures.

Union leaders fear the loss of the truck-tyre division would mean the eventual closure of the whole site, which also makes car and farm tyres.

The redundancies come a year after 540 jobs were axed at the plant, which now has more than 1,700 employees.

Prior to the meeting, union leaders were threatening industrial action, including strikes, unless the company offered assurances that the Goodyear plant was safe in Wolverhampton.

World's biggest

But union leaders said afterwards that strike action had been ruled out for the time being.

One worker said: "The plant is being run down systematically, there is no investment and the machinery is falling to bits."

The Stafford Road plant in Wolverhampton has been producing tyres since the late 1920s.

In January last year the labour force rejected a deal under which 300 jobs would have gone in exchange for remaining workers accepting a pay cut and longer hours.

In 1999 Goodyear took a 10% stake in Sumitomo, surpassing its rivals Bridgestone and Michelin, to become the world's largest tyre manufacturer.