by Martin Jefferies

Around one in seven staff at major Kent employer Cummins Power Generation are set to lose their jobs.

The company, which has business offices and manufacturing operations in Ramsgate on the Isle of Thanet, plans to make 78 of its 600-strong workforce redundant.

In a statement, Cummins said it had looked at a number of cost-reduction measures but said the ongoing global recession had reduced demand for its core products.

Management plan to offer voluntary redundancy before making compulsory cutbacks.

Cummins' Kent base has expanded rapidly in recent years because of strong global demand in the power generation market.

Since 2006, the firm has doubled the size of its Ramsgate facility and created an additional 110 permanent jobs.