CATERPILLAR announced last night that it was cutting more jobs at its Stockton plant.
The news comes only six months after 98 jobs were lost at the heavy manufacturing site at Preston Farm.
The cuts - which are likely to see another 23 people laid off - are due to a restructuring of the Stockton plant, with certain work currently carried out there being transferred to third parties.
Some assembly work will move to other Caterpillar plants in the UK.
A statement issued by the company, which employs more than 300 people at the Preston Farm site, said: "Caterpillar (UK) Ltd will restructure its Stockton facility to focus on world-class fabrications."
It added that the restructure would "complete the consolidation of Caterpillar's UK Fabrications businesses into one site".
Stockton Council leader Councillor Bob Gibson described the cuts as a blow to the town. "It's particularly bad timing with people being laid off just before Christmas.
"Any job loss is a tragedy and these are good jobs. It's very sad."
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