WORKERS at an arms plant were reeling today after being told a third of them were to lose their jobs. Blackburn's Royal Ordnance Factory had to lose 390 of its 1,150 employees as soon as possible.

Employees had feared redundancies at the struggling fuse and electronics plant for some time, but the size of the blow came as a shock.

"We think the company has gone over the top," said a union spokesman.

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