Unions are set to meet with management at the Caterpillar plant in Stockton next week over proposed job cuts.

Caterpillar announced yesterday that it planned to cut around 98 jobs from its workforce of 450 at the heavy plant manufacturing site at Preston Farm.

Jeff Morland, divisional officer for the AEEU/Amicus union said he was dismayed by the plans to trim the workforce.

He said: "While the cuts will be amongst both the office and shopfloor staff, we fear it will be our members that bear the brunt.

"We plan to meet with the Caterpillar management next Wednesday to discuss the situation, and hope we will be able to reduce the number of workers affected by the cuts."

He added: "Our reaction to the job cuts is one of disbelief. We believe the order book at the plant is good and the company has recently announced plans to introduce another production line."

A statement from the company, said: "Demand in the worldwide construction market continues to challenge our business.

"In response to the poor business conditions we have reviewed our production needs and have come to the conclusion that we cannot maintain our current employment levels."