Littlehampton was reeling today after another 60 jobs were axed in the town.

Parker Hannifin is shutting its ageing hose-making plant in Fort Road, claiming it would cost £2 million to update its facilities to bring them into line with industry standards.

By the end of January it will move its operation to larger existing sites in Derbyshire, France and Germany.

The company's European manager, James Perkins, said it would transfer as many staff as it could to other plants around Britain and would try to help

others get jobs.

He added: "We decided the necessary investment would make it uneconomical to run the plant.

"It's very sad. It is no reflection on the town.

"We are in a worldwide recession and the market is becoming more and more competitive.

"As soon as one manufacturer drops prices everyone else does, so it means we have to cut costs to stay in line with foreign firms."

Parker Hannifin, which employs 40,000 people worldwide, has operated at the Littlehampton site since the early Eighties.

Its polyflex hoses supply factories, breweries and pubs with air and water.

It has been a bad year for job losses in Littlehampton.

Earlier this year the Body Shop announced it had shed 300 jobs at its factory just outside the town.

John Stevens, of the Littlehampton Traders' Partnership, said: "Any job losses within the employment area of the town must have some effect on the income levels and therefore the spending levels of people coming into the town."

The mood at the factory today was sombre.

Maintenance worker Barry Parks said: "It is a horrible feeling knowing you're going to lose your job. I have a family here and I was very settled but there are simply no vacancies around in this area so I'm probably going to have to move."

Fellow worker John Hawkes said: "A lot of people are very upset but there is nothing more we can do. If the plant is going to be closed, it's going to be closed. We either try to find other jobs within the company or look for something else."

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