MEP in fight for doomed factory

REGULATORS in Brussels will be asked this week to intervene in a battle to stop an American company shutting Britain's leading car airbag maker.

The takeover of Woodville Airbag Engineering by South Carolina-based Automotive Safety Components International raised serious monopoly issues, said Phillip Whitehead, Labour MEP for the East Midlands.

He said: 'Woodville may not be a very big company, but as a result of the takeover, the combined company has nearly 30% of the world airbag market. I want the competition authorities in Brussels not only to look into the competition issues, but also the circumstances surrounding the takeover.'

Loss-making Woodville of Swadlincote, South Derbyshire, still has a bulging order book. It was sold by owner Smiths Group to the US firm for £3m this month.

But just one working day later, the new owners told the 304 workers they could all be sacked in the spring and the work transferred to eastern Europe - probably Romania - where wages are lower.

Mark Todd, Labour MP for South Derbyshire, has referred the matter to the Department of Trade & Industry, which is now passing the case to the Office of Fair Trading.

Meanwhile, Transport and General Workers Union members at the plant are refusing to discuss redundancy with the management. Phil Barley, TGWU boss in the West Midlands, said: 'We want to keep this company in Swadlincote and we are talking to them only about making savings through cost cutting.'

He said the union was also consulting lawyers over whether the Americans had broken EU employment laws. But Mike Thomas, managing director of ASCI, said: 'We have not said we will close the plant. We have said we have a proposal to close the plant.'

He denied that the combined company had a 30% share of the world airbag market and insisted: 'There are no competition problems.'