The British economy was hit by mixed news yesterday with more redundancies in the electronics industry, offset by the creation of jobs in the service sector.

The British government yesterday concentrated on over 1,000 jobs being created by computer services company Computacenter in several UK cities, and by a £70 million investment by a Portuguese woodchip firm on Merseyside. Prudential, the UK's biggest pension providers, also unveiled plans to open a direct banking arm with the creation of 1,500 jobs over three years, while cutprice airline easyJet announced a big expansion of services from Liverpool, creating up to 300 new jobs.

But the gloom surrounding the electronics industry was deepened when US-owned National Semiconductor said it would make 600 workers redundant at its plant in Greenock, Scotland.

The collapse of the semiconductor market was blamed for the decision to axe two thirds of the workforce.