The new cuts will affect semiconductor facilities

NEC announced the plant's closure on Tuesday, resulting in a further blow for West Lothian and the Scottish economy as a whole, which has suffered setbacks due to the current downturn in the eletronics market.

The US electronics giant Motorola said the latest round of cutbacks would see some of its semiconductor production sites axed as a response to changing market conditions.

It said it was preparing to shed a further 9,400 jobs world wide, although the company was not saying whether any of the jobs would go in the UK.

This year's global cuts, which led to the closure of the Bathgate plant in April left Motorola with two sites at East Kilbride and South Queensferry, employing more than 2,000 people.

Ms O'Connor said Seel would now be seeking talks with the company in the wake of Wednesday's jobs warning.

She said: "The company themselves have not said which plants will be affected, so I can't really speculate on whether or not Scotland will be part of that.

'Very concerned'

"There obviously are concerns and we will be looking to work with the company to find out what their immediate plans are.

"But be assured, should there be an impact on Scottish plants we will be providing exactly the same level of support for the existing Motorola workforce and NEC."

Danny Carrigan, regional secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said the enterprise minister should be pressing Motorola for clarity.

He said: "I am very concerned about this news.

"The company should come clean and clarify the position and tell us their intentions in Scotland.

"I will be urging (Enterprise Minister) Wendy Alexander to make sure that the company comes clean."

A Motorola spokesman said more details were not expected to be known until into the new year.

He said: "We have gone through our management groups in Scotland to let them know that the announcement has been made, but we have not been able to tell them much more than that at the moment."