I want to find out the long-term plans for the factory and make sure the workforce loses as few permanent jobs as possible

Ian Lucas, Wrexham MP

Company managers this month announced they would be making 314 workers redundant.

Around 840 people work at the plant which manufactures DVD players and microwaves.

Up to 200 of the redundancies will be part-time staff.

Sharp has said it cannot reverse its decision regarding the redundancies.

Mr Lucas said he wants to find out the reasons behind the cuts in a bid to prevent the situation from happening again.

"I want to find out the long-term plans for the factory and make sure the workforce loses as few permanent jobs as possible."

Mr Lucas is also keen for the site to be developed with extra infrastructure and investment.

"I want to make sure the position is built upon so we can develop products in Wrexham rather than anywhere else," he added.

"Regrettable" decision

Company managers have said growing price competition from imports and a decline in demand for video recorders are to blame.

The firm has also pointed to increasing manufacturing costs in the UK and increasing difficulties in sourcing competitively priced components in the UK and Europe.

Ian Lucas: Hoped to minimise the cuts

At the time of the announcement Welsh Assembly Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies said the decision was "regrettable".

He said the Welsh Development Agency and assembly officials would work with the company and their unions to help those who had lost their jobs.

It is not the first time the company has cut back on its workforce.

In October 2000 Sharp shed 60 jobs as part of a reorganisation of its product line.

Ian Lucas, MP for Wrexham, said the news was "very upsetting and distressing" for the workers affected.

Electronic downturn

Sharp Electronics is the latest electronics manufacturer in Wales to announce major cutbacks.

Panasonic, Sony and Hitachi announced more than 2,000 redundancies at plants in south Wales in 2000.

Sharp blame a decline in the VCR market

The news was closely followed by cutbacks by the Telecoms firm Solectron, based in Cwmcarn, which axed 350 jobs in June last year.

Hitachi shed 350 jobs claiming it had lost nearly �20m in the past five years because of the drop in the price of televisions.

Japanese electronics giant Sony cut 400 jobs at its television plants at Bridgend and neighbouring Pencoed.

The company said it followed a major reorganisation by Sony in Europe to cope with the changes in the television markets.

Wrexham council described the news as a "devastating blow" to the region, which has suffered 2,000 job losses in the past 12 months.

Sharp has given assurances that there are no plans for more redundancies at the moment.