DOZENS of agency workers at Halewood's Jaguar Land Rover factory have been told they will be made redundant.

The staff affected were among the extra staff hired at the start of 2012 to help the Range Rover Evoque model launch successfully.

JLR announced at the start of the year it was recruiting an extra 1,500 workers.

One man, whose 22-year-old son was  taken on by the Manpower employment  agency to work on the new Evoque, said:  “My son got a phone call a few hours  before his shift started and was told to  come to a building at the plant for a  meeting with Manpower and not to  wear his uniform.

“When he got there, he was handed a  big white envelope, and was told  staffing numbers had been reviewed  and we no longer need this level of  staff.

“No-one had any idea about it,  until he got a phone call this morning.

“He’s absolutely gutted about it,  especially the timing.”

It is not known exactly how many  agency workers were made redundant,  but it is believed to be around 50. They  were on a notice period of one week.

A spokesperson for Jaguar Land  Rover said: “At the start of 2011 JLR  committed to creating 1,500 new  positions at Halewood to support the  launch of the Range Rover Evoque and  this commitment is still in place.

“During 2011 we hired a small  number more than 1,500 to cover the  busy and demanding launch period,  which is a standard practice to ensure  the successful launch of a new vehicle.

“We recently reached the end of the  launch period and commenced a phased  plan to reduce the number of additional  agency workers, in stages, to align with  the longer term workforce  commitment.

“Halewood is now operating at full  production capacity and we have  already started the exciting process of  converting significant numbers of  agency workers into JLR contracted  employees. This process will continue  in the New Year.

“JLR would like to thank the agency employees who are leaving us for contributing to the successful launch of the new Range Rover Evoque.”