A UNION official said yesterday workers at Elementis had been left stunned and angry at plans to axe 120 jobs at the firm's Teesside plant.

The Amicus and T&G unions met representatives at the chemical company, in Eaglescliffe, near Yarm, after it was announced on Monday that Elementis was to cut costs by reducing its North-East workforce.

The multi-national company said it was undertaking a strategic review after being affected by rising raw material and energy costs.

Bob Bolam, of Amicus, said the announcement had come as a shock to the 230-strong workforce at Eaglescliffe.

"The feelings among the workers go from stunned and amazed to shocked and angry," he said. "The company went through a restructuring process only last year, when some jobs were lost, so they thought their jobs were now safe - whereas, in reality, Elementis is looking to make more than 50 per cent of them redundant.

"No one knows which jobs are safe and which could go, which I think explains part of the anger."

Elementis has started a 90-day consultation period and union officials expect to meet with company bosses in the coming few weeks.

Mr Bolam said: "The purpose of this initial meeting was to gauge what was happening and how the workforce is feeling. We will look at what can be done to save the jobs."

Elementis' UK business has been in the red for the past two-and-a-half years and the group blamed soaring energy costs for the continued losses.

It said it had decided to "reduce the volatility of chromium earnings and refocus on specialties", the largest and most profitable part of its business.