Job losses are set to be announced by a leading building products firm after a fall in demand.
Hanson has told its workers that demand for its core products, including asphalt, concrete and cement, had fallen by more than 10% during the year and that 2013 was likely to be worse.
The company said it would have to take steps to balance the size of the business by reducing capacity and bringing overheads into line, moves that would "inevitably" result in job losses.
An announcement on restructuring proposals will be made by the end of October, with no details available yet on the number of job losses.
The GMB union said it feared hundreds of jobs will be lost. National officer Allan Black said: "This gives the lie to the coalition propaganda about light at the end of the tunnel.
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