HUNDREDS of jobs at a Paddock Wood company are under threat following news that the firm is to cease trading this year. Ketlon, based on the Transfesa Industrial Estate, is to wind down after bosses announced it was not making enough money.

In an announcement made to the 500-strong workers, company chief Paul Cahill said the business was up for sale. If a sale does not go ahead, the company will cease trading by the end of the year - giving staff the option of transferring to other plants or taking redundancy packages,

Ketlon was taken over by global company Unipart in 1994. The Paddock Wood arm of the company manufactures and assembles automotive parts for companies such as Ford, BMW, Rover and JCB.

A company spokeswoman said: "There are a lot of problems with the automotive industry at the moment. The weakness of the euro makes it difficult to compete and Paddock Wood is simply not cost effective anymore. Employees have been informed of this decision. If Ketlon is not sold, wherever possible we will be seeking to re-deploy employees to other areas of the group."

She added that if this was not possible a full redundancy package would be offered.

Unipart is a global car part manufacturing company employing 10,000 people, 9,000 in the UK. It has bases in Oxford, Coventry and Leicester - to which Paddock Wood jobs could be transferred.

Chairman of Paddock Wood Town Council, Ron Aitchison, said he was shocked by the news.

He said: "This just shows that manufacturing is again on the decrease. Obviously the movement or removal of a company in Paddock Wood has a knock on effect on the town because people do their shopping here.

"I am obviously working on the assumption that they don't manage to sell it, but I'm not necessarily convinced that they will."

He added if jobs were lost it would be a huge blow to the town."

The company said no plans for the future of the business would be finalised before April.