THREE hundred jobs are being axed at a North-East truck building factory.

The temporary agency workers will work their final shifts at the Caterpillar plant in Peterlee tomorrow. The company blamed the move on sluggish demand in its US and eurozone markets.

The cuts, which affect workers employed by the Randstad agency, leaves the East Durham site with 1,013 staff.

Easington MP Grahame Morris said. "This is a bitter blow for the 300 people losing their jobs in Peterlee all of whom will have financial commitments and families to support.

"Caterpillar is one of our most important employers in East Durham. When redundancies are announced on this scale it has a knock on effect on other business in the area and depresses demand in the local economy because of the loss of spending power."