AYCLIFFE Industrial Park has been dealt another jobs blow with news that Japanese electronics components firm SMK is cutting 58 jobs next month.

The company makes mobile phone components and remote control units for televisions, as well as control panels for photocopiers.

SMK is blaming recent events in the mobile communication market for a fall in customer orders, which has resulted in the need to implement the redundancy plan.

Most of the jobs to be lost at the company will be assembly operators.

The company is currently carrying out a consultation process with employees, prior to formal notices of redundancy being issued.

Personnel director Les Dixon, said: "Like a number of other companies in the electronics industry, our business situation is being influenced by a recent downturn in the current market situation.

"Recent events in the mobile communications market in particular have had a negative impact on customer orders and unfortunately this has led us to implement the redundancy programme."

He added: "We deeply regret the job losses and we will be doing our utmost to help employees who will be made redundant in whatever way we can, in terms of finding alternative employment."

SMK UK started production on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate in 1988, and at the beginning of last year it employed 350 staff. That number has since fallen to 250, many of whom have been with the company since it first opened.

The job losses at SMK are the latest on the Aycliffe Industrial Park in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, US healthcare and office products manufacturer 3M, of Heighton Lane, announced plans to axe 500 UK jobs as part of a global restructuring, which will see 5,000 jobs go in all. It employs about 150 on the park. Bosses hope the job losses can be achieved through voluntary redundancies.

Meanwhile an announcement on the future of the Filtronic factory, occupying the former Fujitsu site on the park, is expected within weeks.

The company employs about 100 people.