by business editor Trevor Sturgess

More than 100 port jobs could be at risk at Sheerness over a £3 million disputed rates bill.

It is reported today that French company Gefco, the main distributor of Peugeot and Citroen cars in Britain, is threatening to cut UK operations over the backdated business rates demand.

The Daily Telegraph says Gefco, which delivers 350,000 cars a year in Britain, is threatening to scale back its Sheerness activities, putting more than 100 jobs at risk.

According to the paper, Antoine Redier, Gefco’s vice-president, has wrtten to the British ambassador in Paris complaining about the handling of the rates issue.

He wrote: "We have invested heavily in ports, technical facilities and warehouse operations which provide over 600 full-time jobs in the UK." He pointed out that many local employers depend on the business.

Expressing disappointment at the rates decision, especially at a time when recession is putting extra strain on the industry, he adds: "The introduction of this tax goes against the nature of international business relationships.

"This unfair attack on intenational trading has led us to investigate the possibilities of reducing our presence in the UK and replacing some of our storage area in our Sheerness depot with land in Calais where no such rates apply."

Last year, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), part of HM Revenue and Customs, imposed additional business rates on port companies, backdated to April 2005, after allegedly discovering a loophole in the rules governing contributions to port owners by companies moving goods in and out of the UK.

Industry experts fear the change could jeopardise more than 100,000 jobs across the UK amid accusations of incompetence by the VOA, and, by extension, the Government for damaging a vital sector of the economy.