THE 300 jobs being axed at a North-East truck building factory are a “bitter blow” for workers, an MP said last night.

The temporary staff employed by the Ranstad agency will work their final shifts at Caterpillar’s plant in Peterlee today after being told that a drop in orders meant they were no longer needed.

The cuts were in addition to the 70 temporary workers released by Caterpillar at the end of August.

The manufacturer blamed the shock announcement on lower than expected demand from buyers in the US and across the eurozone.

The move leaves the east Durham site with 1,013 staff.

Of those, 283 are salaried workers, 251 are hourly agency staff and 490 are hourly permanent staff. It also employs about 400 workers at its sister plant in Stockton.

A Caterpillar spokesman, said: “We regret the need to take this action, but we need to align our workforce with demand and continue to position our business to be successful in the long-term.”

The firm said it is keeping its staffing levels under review and will endeavour to prevent further job losses.

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.

“Caterpillar’s latest generation of articulated trucks are exported all over the world, so it is deeply disappointing that the fall in export orders coincides with a fall in domestic business and consumer confidence.

“My view is that Government must take a lead in supporting manufacturing businesses and stimulating demand for example by bringing forward new infrastructure investment projects such as (high speed rail project) HS2.”

The 300 workers at the North West Industrial Site will be paid one week’s wages.

Earlier this year, the USheadquartered business started work on a major expansion of its factory in Stockton in response to an increase in demand for earth movers in areas such as South America, Asia and the US, where the construction and mining industries are more buoyant than in Europe.