HEREFORD'S leading industrial manufacturer, Special Metals Wiggin, is to shed 90 jobs as it struggles with falling orders and the threat of a sell-off from its American parent company.

The Holmer Road plant is to restructure its operation to cope with a downturn in the global economy and what it calls "a lack of understanding" from central Government.

Director of operations, Richard Shacklady, accused the Government of not understanding UK manufacturing.

"It is a matter of great regret that the Government is making matters worse by not fully understanding the state of UK manufacturing and consistently failing to listen to advice from industry," he said.

The manufacturer of specialised metal products also blames red tape, bureaucracy and the rise in National Insurance for its financial position.

And it does not expect orders from key aerospace, power generation and petrochemical industries to pick up for another two years.

"Market conditions are as difficult as I have experienced in 30 years of work in this industry and there is no sign of any upturn in the next 12 months," said Mr Shacklady.

Trading losses on both sides of the Atlantic forced the US parent company to file for Chapter II bankruptcy protection last year and put the Hereford factory on the market.

"We are hearing rumours about a couple of offers that have been put in, but whether they have been accepted we don't know," said Phil Cogzell, GMB union representative.

"If we are bought up, and there is more investment put into this plant, things might pick up a bit more quickly."

Job cuts will reduce the workforce from 790 to 700, with 70 jobs going on the shop floor and 20 lost to office workers.

The redundancy programme will be accompanied by a restructuring of working patterns that could see some workers lose up to £35 a week with changes in shifts.