THE boss of Parker Steel has blamed a slump in business for the decision to make nearly 50 people redundant.

Managing director Guy Parker says a downturn in the construction industry, particularly in London, has forced the job losses.

He said: "There is also a lot of uncertainty in the economy aggravated by the prospect of war with Iraq and that has filtered down to our business."

Parker Steel wholesales, processes and distributes up to 100,000 tons of steel a year from its factory in Vauxhall Road, Canterbury. The redundancies represent about 10 per cent of the company's total workforce.

Mr Parker said: "Jobs are our biggest costs and we have had to prune that expenditure. Obviously, it is not nice to have to tell someone they have lost their job and not something we do lightly. But it would be a lot harder to tell everyone if we didn't take action now.

"We just cannot afford to have guys standing around with nothing to do. Several elements have come together at one time to force our hand but principally there has definitely been a slowing down in the economy and a general malaise which could get a lot worse."

Mr Parker said each employee affected had been told personally and the legally-required redundancy terms would apply. Some of the job losses had also been voluntary.