450 jobs go at Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover has announced it is cutting 450 jobs.

The redundancies, made up of 300 managers and 150 agency staff, were in response to a 'severe reduction in demand', said the company.

Chief executive David Smith said he did not expect sales to return to normal levels 'for some time.'

'It is only right and proper that our response to the unavoidable impact of the credit crunch and the severe reduction in demand includes actions across all grades and functions of the company.

'It is critical that Jaguar Land Rover becomes a more efficient and dynamic organisation to face up to the challenges that we will meet in the years ahead.'

Jaguar Land Rover has begun consulting with unions on the proposed redundancy programme.