More than 250 workers received notice that they are to lose their jobs after two North-East companies announced redundancies.

Electronics company Saia-Burgess announced yesterday that 215 jobs are to go at its Gateshead factory as it moves production to Poland and China.

Production at the plant, which makes switches for the car and white goods industries among others, will wind down from June before it shuts its doors in August next year.

The cuts would help to combat "severe price pressures" which meant the Gateshead operation was no longer "competitive on a global basis," the company said.

Cramlington-based training company Longhirst Group yesterday said it would not re-tender for government contracts for job re-training for the unemployed, resulting in 66 job losses, including 40 in the North-East. Chief executive Stephen Cowell said the cuts amounted to a "strategic" decision to concentrate on more lucrative private sector work.